Wasps can be a deceptively tricky pest to deal with. While they can be great pollinators for the garden, if you’re dealing with a wasp infestation outdoors or indoors, you may be looking for ways to get rid of them.

For homeowners hoping to wait them out, it's best to know how long wasps normally live. Here's the answer to the important questions about a wasp's lifespan and what to know before going all-in on a removal.

How Long Do Wasps Live?

The lifespan of a wasp can depend on several factors, including their environment.

“Age expectancy depends on the type of wasp and their role in the social colony,” says Bob Gilbert, a board-certified entomologist at Blue Sky Pest Control.

Yellowjackets, paper wasps, mud daubers, and hornets are some of North America's most common wasp species.

In North America, worker wasps—infertile female wasps—build the nest, feed larvae, forage for food, and defend the nest. This activity takes a toll on their body, leading to a shorter lifespan. Drone wasps are male wasps that live for a few weeks–just long enough to fertilize new queen wasps.

Queens are the longest-living wasps in the nest, usually living for up to 10-12 months to build their colony.

“The colony produces a new queen in the fall that overwinters and starts a new colony the following spring,” Gilbert says.

Except for queen wasps, most don’t live past a few months. But that largely depends on where you live and weather conditions. In places like Australia, there are over 10,000 wasp varieties, and their nests can grow for many years.

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What Kills Wasps?

A wasp lives a very challenging life. They endure against predators, weather temperatures, and food availability. Major natural threats can further shorten their lifespan. 

• Animals: While wasps are carnivores that enjoy flies, spiders, grasshoppers, and small insects, they aren’t very high on the food chain. Common predators include badgers, bears, rats, raccoons, skunks, geckos, lizards, frogs, and birds, like the sparrow or summer tanager. Even other insects like dragonflies, praying mantises, moths, and other Vespidae (wasp) species aren’t afraid to go after wasps. 
• Cold temperatures: Wasps are sensitive to dramatic weather changes, like a sudden cold front or even an extreme heat wave. Cold weather causes wasps to die off, as they are cold-blooded creatures.
• Inability to reproduce: Queen wasps can hibernate through winters. But without a steady stream of eggs from the queen wasp, older wasps in the colony will start dying off or will be unable to maintain and protect the nest.

When Do Wasps Die?

Understanding how long wasps live means knowing when they’re likely to die. Wasps thrive in the spring and summer but start to wane in the fall and winter.

The queen wasp will stop laying eggs in late summer. Instead, they’ll produce other queen wasps to hibernate through the winter and create new colonies in the new year.

As the weather gets colder in autumn and the flowers begin to deteriorate along with other food sources, so will the wasp population. Since wasps have a high metabolism and are constantly moving around, they need a lot of food.

Without it, they’ll likely die within a few days. So, with cold temperatures or a lack of sustenance, most wasps will die off as the seasons change.

How to Get Rid of Wasps.

While there are plenty of tried and tested methods for getting rid of wasps, here are a few of the more popular and effective options you have to eliminate them from your home or garden:

• Buy or build a wasp trap to lure them in with fruit, apple cider vinegar, or dish soap. Be sure the contraption is built to prevent the wasps from getting back out.
• To take on a smaller nest, consider a commercial wasp spray. Sprayable from a distance, the chemical foams up through the nest entrance.
• Instead of using chemicals, plant natural wasp repellants, like mint, wormwood, clove, or eucalyptus, to discourage wasps from your garden. Scents like lavender, lemongrass, clove, and geraniums are unpleasant for wasps and will get rid of them.
• Otherwise, spray or diffuse essential oils around the nest to evict them from their home.

When to Call a Professional

Wasps can be pretty hostile if their nests are disturbed. They aren't afraid to sting if somebody gets too close, and—unlike bees—they can sting more than just once.

"Many social wasps can be very aggressive and attempting to treat them yourself could have serious consequences,” Gilbert says.

Waiting for a wasp population to die out is possible, depending on your comfort level and the nest's location.

"Paper wasps could be fine untreated, again depending on where they are located,” Gilbert says. If you do want to treat this non-aggressive species, it’s safe to try an aerosol pesticide made for wasps.

But sometimes, a wasp nest can grow as big as a basketball, housing a colony of thousands. If a wasp nest near your home is growing aggressively or in a hard-to-reach area, it's best to call a professional experienced in handling these insects.

So, it can be a good idea to call a professional for peace of mind, especially if someone in the house is allergic, to prevent them from returning instead of waiting for the end of a wasp’s life.