Wasps

[trummy]

That's good news - live and let live!
During Covid I have become more aware of my immediate environment (nothing else to do at times) Last year I left a wasps nest be(e) the year before I tried to get rid of one, both were in the garden, feel quite guilty about it now.

Hope they don't bother you

 

[Lynx Brewery]

Schoolboy Error
I remember drinking one a few years ago at the Zoo. I’d taken a bottle of beer and had drunk about half of it out of the bottle. After putting it on the ground for a few minutes, the next swig was beer & wasp.

It stung me inside my mouth and I spat it out. Mouth was a bit sore for 24 hours.

I normally ignore them. They’re the good guys. Good & Black, they support the Mighty Wolves

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

The thing with wasps is, they actually live off a sweet sticky secretion from the wasp larvae in the nest.
The adults collect insects and grubs, take them back to the nest and feed them to the grubs which then produce the sweet sticky stuff.
The problem comes later in the season when all the grubs have developed - at this point there is no more sweet sticky stuff. So at that point the wasps go nuts for anything sweet, and also get very aggressive because they are starving hungry.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Wasps will also kill bees and rob Bee hives, but if you poison them they can take the poison to the beehive they are robbing and upset / wipe that out.
Personal experience of wasps in our walls that the landlord poisoned and then our hive went straight down about 100 m away.
But there is a good poison here in NZ that is specific for the wasps but I can't remember the name. Will update.

 

[alfajerry]

We hang one of these up each year and they build their nests elsewhere.

Waspinator

 

[Clint]

Borax.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Borax.

No it's true

 

[Nicks90]

The thing with wasps is, they actually live off a sweet sticky secretion from the wasp larvae in the nest.
The adults collect insects and grubs, take them back to the nest and feed them to the grubs which then produce the sweet sticky stuff.
The problem comes later in the season when all the grubs have developed - at this point there is no more sweet sticky stuff. So at that point the wasps go nuts for anything sweet, and also get very aggressive because they are starving hungry.

I didn't know that! I just thought they were all ars#h@les with personal space issues and a bad attitude

 

[dad_of_jon]

The thing with wasps is, they actually live off a sweet sticky secretion from the wasp larvae in the nest.
The adults collect insects and grubs, take them back to the nest and feed them to the grubs which then produce the sweet sticky stuff.
The problem comes later in the season when all the grubs have developed - at this point there is no more sweet sticky stuff. So at that point the wasps go nuts for anything sweet, and also get very aggressive because they are starving hungry.

agreed at the end of the summer the best wasp is a dead one. as hinted at not a problem early on in the season. I take offense at being dived bombed evertime I want to eat an ice cream outdoors in late august. I star-san'd two of the bug-gers that were having a go at me in the garden yesterday.

 

[MrRook]

I didn't know that! I just thought they were all ars#h@les with personal space issues and a bad attitude

They are, the hunger thing is just an excuse.

 

[starseeker]

And we wonder why the natural world is in a **** state when some peoples default position is kill it !
Just leave wasps , and there bigger relative the Hornet well alone ,unless of course you want to be pollinating your fruit trees etc with a feather (happens in some parts of china now as they have poisoned all the insects )

 

[Stevieboy]

Just let them bee.....(!)

 

[MrRook]

Just let them bee.....(!)

That's the plan.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Didn't Paul McCartney sing about letting it bee.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

When a wasp comes into my garden
Mother Nature sent to me
There must be a reason
Let it bee, let it bee.

 

[Clint]

Good grief...

 

[dad_of_jon]

plenty of bumble bees in our garden. My default position is to let all things be. However as in SNAP's I've got the power. "So wasps stay off my back, or I will attack and you don't want that"

 

[sifty]

Man, introduced wasps are a massive pest in NZ. I think because they have no natural predators here, and the winters don't knock them back, they are in plague proportions in some areas. Plus they compete with native insects for food, and I believe they have even killed native birds.
We are encouraged to report/poison nests whenever possible.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Man, introduced wasps are a massive pest in NZ. I think because they have no natural predators here and the winters don't knock them back they are in plague proportions in some areas. Plus they compete with native insects for food, and I believe they have even killed native birds.
We are encouraged to report/poison nests whenever possible.

Wasps by weight are the biggest non native wild pest per acre or area in NZ. More than possums, rats etc.

 

[Galena]

And we wonder why the natural world is in a **** state when some peoples default position is kill it !
Just leave wasps , and there bigger relative the Hornet well alone ,unless of course you want to be pollinating your fruit trees etc with a feather (happens in some parts of china now as they have poisoned all the insects )

Easy for you to say, I have an allergy to wasp stings so as far as I am concerned the only good wasp is a dead wasp. I used to have to pay a professional to come and kill the nests each year as I was scared to tackle them myself but this year bought the right kit and now handle it myself. Six nests killed this year so if you think I was letting them be you are wrong. All very well leaving them alone until you tread on a ground nest or they build in your shed.