- (301) 829-0060
- Mt. Airy, MD
- info@pestshieldinc.com
Pest Shield, Inc. has been removing yellow jacket nests from Frederick County homes since 2011, operating under Maryland Department of Agriculture license MDA #30263 with a team that brings over 75 years of combined pest management experience to every job. Owner Troy Yowell is personally involved in the majority of stinging insect calls — he’s named by customers in more than 149 reviews — and same-day response to New Market is standard, not an exception. Pest Shield’s staff includes Jeffrey Allwine, a certified entomologist, giving the company diagnostic depth that most small regional pest control firms don’t have. With 338+ five-star reviews across Google and HomeAdvisor, including dozens specifically for yellow jacket removal, Pest Shield, Inc. is the established local choice for this work.
How it works
Four steps. No surprises. Same answer whether it's your first call or your tenth.
You reach Troy or someone on his team directly. No call center, no dispatcher, no routing.
Same-day or next-day for most calls. Emergency stinging-insect situations and real-estate WDI deadlines get priority.
We identify the species, locate entry points, and find the source — not just the symptom.
Written recommendation, straightforward pricing, no obligation. If you don't need treatment, we'll tell you.
If you’ve noticed a steady stream of insects entering and exiting a single point — a gap in your siding, a crack in the foundation, a hole in the ground near a shrub, an exhaust vent, or a space under deck boards — there’s a reasonable chance you’re looking at a yellow jacket nest. By late summer and fall in Frederick County, those colonies can hold thousands of workers, and they are at their most defensive. A nest that seemed manageable in June is a different situation in August.
For anyone in the household with a known bee or wasp sting allergy, a yellow jacket nest on the property is a genuine safety concern that warrants prompt attention. Anaphylactic reactions to yellow jacket stings can be severe and fast-moving. That’s not a reason to panic — it’s a reason to call rather than wait.
60+ years of combined experience. Tell us what you’re seeing — we’ll come look, no obligation.
My wife and I discovered a yellow jackets nest in our siding had moved inside our bedroom wall. Bees were starting to come into the bedroom through the baseboards and window. We called a few large companies first who tried to sell us on an initial price followed by 7 months of service. We’re glad we called Troy at Pest Shield. He gave us a low quote and even stood by it after noticing we had one of the larger nests he had come across this year. Troy was professional going over everything he was going to do while providing us options. We are no longer hearing bees in the wall and the outside activity has dwindled to a bee here or there. Nothing is choosing to go back where Troy sprayed. We really appreciate being bee free again.
djsportbike · August 2023 Read on Google →
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Troy was very professional, honest & his work was effective! Our home is under contract and we had to ensure our yellowjacket issue was resolved with little to no damage done. After many failed treatments with another company resulting in the bees getting inside our walls, we decided to find an expert. The Google reviews speak for themselves! TROY is the real deal! Super responsive, educated us on all the possibilities of our issue, treatment & possible results. Warranty is great even though so far we have no need to use it thus far. He even called to check on us after his treatment to ensure everything was resolved. Good customer service is hard to come by but Troy provided AMAZING customer service! Don’t waste your time or stress call Troy!
Kaylin Gonzalez · August 2023 Read on Google →
I called Pest Shield when we needed something done right away. We have a hornets nest and a wasp nest in bad places, three days before having a large gathering. Troy had a busy schedule, but agreed to come after 5:00 that evening. He got here shortly after 5:00, was friendly, thorough and professional, and took care of the nests (and two more we found). He explained everything, showed me what he could, and left excellent and detailed information. I’d hire him again any time we need that sort of service, and would definitely recommend Pest Shield.
Kai Hagen · July 2017 Read on HomeAdvisor →
General pest & rodent control
Pest Shield’s approach to yellow jacket removal starts with locating the nest — which sounds straightforward but often isn’t. Yellow jackets entering a gap in siding may have built their colony several feet away inside the wall cavity. Ground nests can extend deeper than expected. Troy has documented experience finding and treating nests in wall voids, under siding, in ground cavities, exhaust fan vents, soffits, chimneys, and gas fireplace bump-outs — locations where the entry point and the nest itself are not the same place. The inspection is free for all new clients, and it happens before any treatment decision is made.
Once the nest is located, treatment is direct and targeted. Troy treats the nest and the surrounding area, then stays briefly on-site to address foraging workers that weren’t present at the time of treatment — yellow jackets that return to find the nest gone or treated will disperse, but the period right after treatment is when returning foragers are most concentrated. Staying to manage that window is standard practice, not an add-on. The following day, Troy follows up by phone or text to confirm the nest is resolved — this is documented consistently across yellow jacket reviews and is one of the clearest signals of how Pest Shield actually operates.
One treatment is the standard outcome for yellow jacket removal. Pest Shield backs the work with a seasonal warranty: if yellow jacket activity returns to the treated site within the season, they come back. Eco-friendly treatment options are available for the nest site, and Troy advises on precautions and re-entry timing before leaving — including guidance specific to homes with children and pets. Treatment is targeted to the nest location; products are EPA-approved and applied with the surrounding property in mind.
If you have a yellow jacket problem at your New Market home, the straightforward next step is to call (301) 829-0060 or reach out through the website to schedule a free inspection. Same-day response is available for active infestations.
Owner
Founded Pest Shield in 2011 after years as a pest management contractor on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Around 35 years in pest management. Personally handles or leads the majority of service calls.
Pest Management Specialist
Field technician handling residential and commercial service calls across Frederick, Carroll, and Montgomery counties.
Pest Management Specialist
Field technician handling residential and commercial service calls across the service area.
Our Entomologist
Consulting entomologist on species identification, conducive conditions, and treatment strategy for difficult cases.
New Market sits in eastern Frederick County along US-40 and I-70, a few miles east of Mt. Airy where Pest Shield is based. The town and its surrounding residential areas include a mix of older in-town properties and newer wooded subdivisions that back up to the tree lines and agricultural land common to this part of the county. Pest Shield serves New Market as part of its core Frederick County territory, and same-day response is well within normal range.
The wooded lots and mature landscaping around New Market create consistent yellow jacket pressure — ground nests establish in root systems and mulched beds, while older homes with wood siding and aging soffits provide wall-void access. Frederick County’s warm, humid summers allow colonies to reach large sizes before fall, which is when most emergency calls come in. The combination of nesting habitat and late-season colony size makes yellow jacket removal a recurring need in this area — and it’s part of why pest control in New Market remains in steady demand throughout the warmer months.
Yes — same-day response for active yellow jacket infestations is standard for Pest Shield, and it’s documented consistently across customer reviews. Troy has been confirmed arriving the same day for stinging insect emergencies, including on Sundays and after normal business hours, at no extra charge. If you call (301) 829-0060 and describe an active nest situation, same-day scheduling is the norm, not a special request.
Stay away from the entry point and avoid disturbing the area around it. Don’t seal the opening — sealing a yellow jacket entry point traps workers inside and can force them to find a secondary exit, sometimes into the living space. Don’t spray the entry point with consumer products; this agitates the colony without eliminating it and can make the nest harder to treat effectively. Keep children and pets away from the area. If the nest is near a door or walkway you need to use, give the entry point a wide berth and move through quickly without swatting at foragers.
It does — a yellow jacket nest on the property is a more immediate safety concern when anyone in the household has a known sting allergy. Anaphylactic reactions to yellow jacket stings can escalate quickly, and a disturbed colony can deliver multiple stings before anyone can move away. Pest Shield has handled documented situations where household members had severe sting allergies, and same-day response is available precisely for these circumstances. If allergy is a factor, mention it when you call — it’s relevant to how quickly the job gets scheduled.
Foraging workers that return after treatment will find the nest gone or treated and will eventually disperse — they have no nest to defend and no queen to return to. Troy stays briefly on-site after treatment specifically to address the concentration of returning foragers in the period right after the nest is treated. This is standard practice, not an add-on. Activity at the entry point typically drops off significantly within 24 to 48 hours; Troy follows up the next day to confirm resolution.
One treatment is the standard outcome — yellow jacket colonies don’t overwinter in their nests, so the colony that was treated won’t return. New queens overwinter elsewhere and establish new nests in spring, sometimes in the same general area if the conditions are favorable. Pest Shield backs yellow jacket removal with a seasonal warranty: if activity returns to the treated site within the season, they come back at no charge. For the following season, the risk depends on whether the nesting site remains accessible — Troy can advise on any structural gaps or conditions worth addressing to reduce the likelihood of re-establishment.
