Wasp Plague

squawker

is it just my house or is there wasps everywhere at the moment?

little bastards

Nedzer01

Last Saturday I had lunch at home with the doors open - 5 or the guys invaded the kitchen. Coffee next morning in a cafe they were all over the scones n jam. August they seem to always to go gangbusters, probably just before they’re ready to croak it.

Deebles McBeebles

I found one threatening my dog last night. The wasp is no longer a problem.

Insect Overlord

It's one of the few remaining annual certainties. The bumblebee may be on the decline, but August - September is the wasp's time to shine!

bodhrandude

There were loads at All Together Now festival, fecking everywhere.

dennyk

At least the wasps here seem pretty chill; they mostly just want to see if you have anything tasty to eat. Much better than the yellowjacket bastards back in the southeast US, which are driven only by a burning hatred of all living things and will attempt to sting you to death without the slightest provocation (and will also piss pheromones all over you that compel every other wasp within a hundred metres to come rushing over to help murder you).

jim o doom

There is a plague of them. I appear to in fact have a nest. Just waiting on delivery of a ladder and I can use the wasp nest killing poison sealant foam to eradicate them.

One of the effing things stung my on my little toe at 10PM in my kitchen. I have to say I jumped up and down on the b/tard for a good 60 vengeful seconds.

Cina

At least we don't have those damn murderous devil spawn Asian Giant Hornets. Sweet mother of Jesus whatever aspect of evolution designed them needs to be shot and quartered.

victor8600

Cina wrote: »

At least we don't have those damn murderous devil spawn Asian Giant Hornets. Sweet mother of Jesus whatever aspect of evolution designed them needs to be shot and quartered.

Just so people know and be suitably afraid, here is a picture

Graces7

Nedzer01 wrote: »

Last Saturday I had lunch at home with the doors open - 5 or the guys invaded the kitchen. Coffee next morning in a cafe they were all over the scones n jam. August they seem to always to go gangbusters, probably just before they’re ready to croak it.

I used to find this when I was street trading. Yes, they get very hungry and are fighting death. So I would put a jar of slightly diluted jam or two out for them away from the customers and that worked fine. Better than losing sales as customers did the wasp dance!

Odd; huge numbers of honey bees out here in the ocean but never seen a wasp..

TheValeyard

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

There are more of them this year as the long dry summer suited them last year; whereas Bumble Bees did badly in the heat last year. Contrary to many, they are not nearly dying off at this time of year. They are finished feeding larvae with aphids and such and are now in search of sources of sugars to sustain themselves. Adult numbers are at their max from August, until the first severe frosts start to kill them.


Providing a sugar source away from where you are trying to enjoy being outdoors usually stops them annoying you.

topper75

I was fighting on the frontline of this war yesterday morning at the bottlebank. I attacked some of their key positions by launching a volley of brown, green, and clear bottles. I made good my retreat to the car with zero casualties. I am going to have a special medal struck and presented to myself by me to honour the five minute battle.

On the plus side they do a lot to keep the fly population under control. the adults aren't carnivores but the young are. The adults actively hunt flies to bring back to their nest. If the fly is too big they'll cut it in half then return to the same spot later to collect the rest.

BeerWolf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N86iZfZwXFo

beggars_bush

Wasps also kill caterpillars on the likes of cabbage, but they don't eat them though (fun fact!) because they lack the enzymes needed to digest the caterpillars. Instead they bring the caterpillar's remains back to the wasp larvae and they gorge themselves

archer22

IMO most people get stung because they start flailing their arms and trying to swat the wasp when it comes near them.
I have never been stung by a wasp and I am pretty sure the reason is because I never panic when they come near me.

Ah lads, I thought, you know, after the Good Friday agreement we'd be more welcoming of them.

Darwin

September won't be the end of them either unless we get some cold weather early on. I got stung in my living room last December, I picked up a briquette to light the fire and thought it had a sharp edge for a moment - only it was a wasp hiding underneath it. This one definitely got cremated.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah lads, I thought, you know, after the Good Friday agreement we'd be more welcoming of them.

You're confusing orange bastards with yellow bastards there my friend

Ultimate Seduction

[Deleted User] wrote: »

On the plus side they do a lot to keep the fly population under control. the adults aren't carnivores but the young are. The adults actively hunt flies to bring back to their nest. If the fly is too big they'll cut it in half then return to the same spot later to collect the rest.

Not sure how true this is. I get a great laugh watching big wasps eat daddy long legs off my wall every September.

Ultimate Seduction

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Not sure how true this is. I get a great laugh watching big wasps eat daddy long legs off my wall every September.

It's 100% true I can assure you. Not me but my partner is something of an amateur botanist, he observes and records these things regularly. I've literally watched him feed flies to wasps out of his hand! :eek:

Ultimate Seduction

[Deleted User] wrote: »

It's 100% true I can assure you. Not me but my partner is something of an amateur botanist, he observes and records these things regularly. I've literally watched him feed flies to wasps out of his hand! :eek:

Yeah , I've watched them eat daddy long legs, large wasps too not just baby's ? Unless they regurgitate them but I've definitely watched them eat full daddy long legs.

Ultimate Seduction

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Yeah , I've watched them eat daddy long legs, large wasps too not just baby's ? Unless they regurgitate them but I've definitely watched them eat full daddy long legs.

No, only the adults, the young are still in the nest. The adults don't actually eat their prey, they only kill them and bring them back to the nest for the larvae to eat. Adult wasps are not carnivores, like I said, it's just the young.

rn

Observing a nest in my garden that has my dog plagued. The dog dug a hole at boundary wall that exposed a gap in plaster in a 9inch cavity block wall... And wasps moved in this summer.

The dog, of course, can't help but attack/play with the nest at least once per day because she loves the hole she dug. She's a golden retriever, so very thick coat of hair. Anyway the wasps land on back of her neck, between shoulders and calmly burry down into her long hair to sting her. Meanwhile she's leaping about demented.

Graces7

rn wrote: »

Observing a nest in my garden that has my dog plagued. The dog dug a hole at boundary wall that exposed a gap in plaster in a 9inch cavity block wall... And wasps moved in this summer.

The dog, of course, can't help but attack/play with the nest at least once per day because she loves the hole she dug. She's a golden retriever, so very thick coat of hair. Anyway the wasps land on back of her neck, between shoulders and calmly burry down into her long hair to sting her. Meanwhile she's leaping about demented.

One of my cats, many years ago, tried to eat a wasp... He screamed all the way , 30 miles, to the vets..

Graces7

archer22 wrote: »

IMO most people get stung because they start flailing their arms and trying to swat the wasp when it comes near them.
I have never been stung by a wasp and I am pretty sure the reason is because I never panic when they come near me.

What we call the wasp dance,, tourists are very good at it... I got stung once by one that was hiding in my hat.. when I put it on OUCH. .. .

rn

I'm sure my dog has been stung multiple times, judging by her reaction to wasps. So far no immediate need to go to vet.

I got stung by a wasp in yosemite a few years ago on one of my calves. It was sore for few days.

Akabusi

I don't get peoples reaction when a wasp comes near them, the sting is quite mild, maybe 1 level up from a nettle

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

On the plus side they do a lot to keep the fly population under control. the adults aren't carnivores but the young are. The adults actively hunt flies to bring back to their nest. If the fly is too big they'll cut it in half then return to the same spot later to collect the rest.

But flies clean up all the dead sh1t (and literal sh1t) lying around the place, they're mostly harmless. I don't see what contribution wasps make at all. They're right up there with pandas for their selfish, good-for-nothing, aggressive way of life. Fcuking pandas.

Akabusi wrote: »

I don't get peoples reaction when a wasp comes near them, the sting is quite mild, maybe 1 level up from a nettle

Yeah but imagine a flying nettle that you cannot outrun.

Ultimate Seduction

Akabusi wrote: »

I don't get peoples reaction when a wasp comes near them, the sting is quite mild, maybe 1 level up from a nettle

It's a few levels up from a nettle in fairness, also nettles don't chase you.