Large number of Wasps

Ding Dong

I live in the Wicklow area and have noticed the past week a huge amount of wasps around. Anyone know why the sudden rise in them? about 2 dozen come into the kitchen every day for the past week. Does this happen every year? just never noticed it as bad.

cora09

August is when wasps are out in their largest numbers.. I used to work in a bakery and come late july - early august they would drive us mad especially as they bakey I worked in made mostly apple tarts and wasps love apples...

I think its because most of the workers (which are unsterile female wasps) die off soon but at the same time the colony has been growing all summer and the numbers are at their highest. Also the queen has produced fertile female (nxt years queens) and male wasps(This months studs). The girlies stay at home and wait by the phone while the boys basically go out and get some in other colonies. So the fertile females and the males mate and go their seperate ways, boys die off eventually and the girls go into hibernation til next summer with a store of baby juice in her belly for making a new colony when she wakes up.

So basically the large numbers are due to the growth of the colony over the summer and because the workers are out looking for food for the 'princes' and 'princesses' that were recently hatched... added to that are all the new young males out looking for a (fertile) young lady wasp to swoon..

Ding Dong

thx a mill for the reply

cora09

no prob, i'm in limerick and we're being pestered by them too.. They have anger issues, I was stung a few weeks ago because I came within 2ft of the nest while doing the garden... Just above the knee couldn't even straighten my leg after about 5mins... b*****ds LOL