European wasps are the one summer pest in Victoria that genuinely sends people to hospital, and the season is far more predictable than most homeowners expect. A nest that was the size of a golf ball in November is roughly the size of a basketball by March. That growth curve is why the calls cluster so tightly between February and April.
Why the nest gets dangerous late, not early
Unlike honey bees, European wasps sting repeatedly and do not lose the sting. A mature nest can hold thousands of workers, and they get markedly more aggressive as the colony peaks and food sources dry off in late summer. A nest you walked past in December without noticing becomes a genuine problem by late February.
They nest in three places around a typical Melbourne home: in the ground along fence lines and garden edges, inside wall cavities, and in compost heaps. Roof voids and eaves are the fourth. The ground nests are the ones that catch people out, because the entry hole is often no wider than a coin with a steady stream of traffic in and out.
The single worst thing you can do
Do not block the entry hole. It is the instinct almost everyone has, and it is the reaction that turns a yard problem into a house problem. Wasps denied their usual entrance will work through a wall cavity looking for another way out, and that route frequently ends inside the building. The same applies to filling a ground nest with soil or pouring something down it.
If wasps are streaming to one point in the ground, the eaves or a wall, mark the spot from a distance and leave it alone.
It runs the same way outside the metro area
The season is not a Melbourne phenomenon. Regional Victoria runs the same February to April peak, and in some areas the pressure is higher because there is more open ground and fence line for the ground nests. Along the Barwon and out through the bush-edge blocks near Anakie and the You Yangs, ground nests along tracks and boundaries are routine every summer, and crews handling pest control in Geelong see the same pattern of late-season calls once nests hit full size.
Honey bees are a different call entirely
A swarm hanging off a branch is house-hunting and will usually move on within a day or two. A local beekeeper will often collect it for nothing. Treatment is for colonies inside a wall or roof where someone is at genuine risk, and where a hive has been in a wall for a while, the comb and honey have to come out afterwards or it ferments and stains through the plaster.
If you are unsure which one you have, the giveaway is the body. European wasps are bright yellow and black with a smooth body and tucked legs in flight. Honey bees look furry and carry their legs down.
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