Wasps around beer bottles

**Timbuk2**

Apologies if this is the wrong forum.

I am working part time in a pub at the moment.

Part of the job is to go out to the yard and sort out all the beer bottles in to bins and crates. The beer bottles are always emptied on the ground and then sorted out. However, there tends to be about 40+ wasps flying around the bottles, and even inside them.

How can I get rid of these? It's very difficult to do the job with wasps flying up your arms and by your ear and everything! If I'm eating outside with family in good weather, I'd usually put a nearly-empty bottle of Lucozade a bit away from where we are and the wasps would leave us alone and go for the bottle. However, considering the job is to clean up about 80 bottles of beer, this won't work (it would be like putting €50 on the ground and placing a 50c coin off to the side to distract people ).

How should I deal with this?

Thanks in advance.

Jules

the wasps are attracted to the sugar in the alcohol, so really the only way of dealing with this is to wash out the bottles before putting them into the bottles bins. Now i've worked in pubs for most of my working life and this isn't gonna happen, i would guess. So stock up on vinegar and wear long sleves and gloves and be very careful!

**Timbuk2**

Thanks for the reply. Washing out the bottles definitely won't happen in the pub - I wish

The vinegar is for the wasp stings, right? The wasps don't usually seem too bothered by our presence - I've never been stung yet. Maybe it's possible that they're drunk. Can wasps get drunk on beer? How would this affect them?

Jules

yeah vinegar is for the stings not sure if they can get drunk, wouldnt think so though!