Whats with all the wasps???

rachaelf750

Just wonering does anyone else think there is way more wasps this year and no bees???:eek:

Black Heart

I've seen a huge number of both and some I've never seen before, but there are a lot of flowering plants near me.

The Paws

We have a lot of wasps everywhere near my garden and a fewer numbers of bees for some reason.

You wouldn't want to be near my dad with his newspaper rolled up cos he attacks them like a mad man!

Mothman

The Paws wrote: »

You wouldn't want to be near my dad with his newspaper rolled up cos he attacks them like a mad man!

The problem with this is that when a wasp (or Bee) is killed, pheromones are released sending message to other wasps in area that they are under attack and so they end up being defensive, meaning more aggressive placing anyone near at more risk.

Alliandre

rachaelf750 wrote: »

Just wonering does anyone else think there is way more wasps this year and no bees???:eek:

There are a lot of wasps, but no more than any other year. I have a phobia of them so I'm always well aware of how many are around!

Mothman wrote: »

The problem with this is that when a wasp (or Bee) is killed, pheromones are released sending message to other wasps in area that they are under attack and so they end up being defensive, meaning more aggressive placing anyone near at more risk.

Are those pheromones released if you kill them with fly spray or is it only when you squish them? And how long are the others likely to stay extra aggressive for?

Mothman

Alliandre wrote: »

Are those pheromones released if you kill them with fly spray or is it only when you squish them? And how long are the others likely to stay extra aggressive for?

Sorry, don't know.

To guess, I'd say more so when squished and couple hours but I've also experienced wasps hanging round where a nest was removed for more than a week and they were not docile!

Birdnuts

Have noticed more wasps then recent years allright but whats even more striking is the welcome signficant increase in bumble-bee numbers this summer in these parts.:)

littlebug

I haven't noticed any more wasps than usual (except for when I stupidly invited them in to my garden:rolleyes:) but I have noticed more bees in different parts of the country that I've been in over the summer. I saw a HUGE one the other day but it was gone too fast for me to get a good look at it to figure out what it was.

Knine

I have noticed a lot more bees this year including the ones with the red bottom. I'm quite fond of bees:) This is the first year I have noticed lots of bees around.

Now when I was a young wan and our favourite past time was a jam jar complete with clover in it and we would go and catch bees. Now if you caught a red arsed one you scored major brownie points with the friends.

I hate wasps so I have invested in one of these. It really works. I was fed up doing ninja style moves around my sitting room armed with a large can of raid. (plus there is the guilt factor)

http://www.waspinator.co.uk

migemo

Loads of wasps around the house this year. And i mean loads. Surely kill more than a hundred every day with jam jars of beer outside the windows and fly killer for those who make it in. Just put up two of those waspinators(16,99 per pair@ atlantic homecare) tonight. Can't really see them working but i'll update in the morning.

artieanna

Have only seen two wasps this year one yesterday and one today and I've been out and about alot!!

Hope they don't read this and swarm me!:D

migemo

artieanna wrote: »

Have only seen two wasps this year one yesterday and one today and I've been out and about alot!!

Hope they don't read this and swarm me!:D

They're all holidaying over here. Waspinator totally useless in this case but I'm sure there must be a nest near by and it does say that it wont work if a nest is aleady established. Another month of this. Gonna try spraying a tiny bit of flykiller on the ones outside at the jars, just enough to agitate them in the hope they will fly back to the nest and tell the others not to go near THAT house. Genius

littlebug

Migemo did you read Mothmans point on pheremones above?

Mothman wrote: »

The problem with this is that when a wasp (or Bee) is killed, pheromones are released sending message to other wasps in area that they are under attack and so they end up being defensive, meaning more aggressive placing anyone near at more risk.

To be honest I think that you'll be inviting more and angrier wasps!
I would also as to say that you may be attracting more of them with the jam jars! Try getting rid of the jars (and wipe away any spillages of beer etc) and see if the numbers dwindle over a few hours.

I was just remarking to myself (though I may regret saying this:rolleyes:) I haven't seen one wasp this year since early summer when I had one attempt to build a nest in the shed.

migemo

Oh oh!

Mothman

Thanks LB, I was about to rely with similar.

I know of 2 nests in my garden. One in one of my bat boxes. The nest has expanded to outside the opening.

The other is underground and judging by activity, it's a large one! Had one in similar position a few years back and it stayed very active well into November!

gbee

Have not seen any wasps this August [so far] but I have noticed a few bees and of a large size as already reported.

migemo

I have seen the light. Apologies Mothman. I have removed all trace of the jars. I put them there cos i thought it would keep them from coming in. Thinking now that they know about the jars and will keep coming.

RustyNut

Iv had to deal with 2 wasp nests in the back garden this summer. The little monsters dug holes, you could see the little balls of clay that the excavated, fascinating to observe they looked like something from a science fiction movie but then we hit them with chemical warfare and now there all gone...

johngalway

I wonder has the weather in the West compared to the weather in the East had an effect on wasps? As I don't believe I've seen a wasp yet this year

Edited to add, possibly more the salt spray being carried on the wind than the actual weather,? I believe here int he West, May especially, was considerably wetter than in the East.

swifts need our help!

Do you get bats in your bat boxes?

Mark

littlebug

johngalway wrote: »

I wonder has the weather in the West compared to the weather in the East had an effect on wasps? As I don't believe I've seen a wasp yet this year

Edited to add, possibly more the salt spray being carried on the wind than the actual weather,? I believe here int he West, May especially, was considerably wetter than in the East.

I did wonder the same when I saw artieannas post. I'm well inland though so salt spray wouldn't be a factor.

Mothman

Salt can be carried for 10s of miles. I was a year in Birr, and salt harmed a beech hedge. 70 miles from sea!

No bats in my bat boxes as far as I'm aware. Plenty of other things though throughout the years

Don't think salt would have been an issue with the wasps.

The deep cold at end of November possibly. Perhaps this was before hibernation.
And just because I know of 2 nests does not make it representative of the east. I'm only a mile from sea and did not see the deep cold that a few further miles inland saw.

I had a load of queen wasps hibernating in my sheds

Edit, meant 10s of miles, not 10 miles

littlebug

Mothman wrote: »

Salt can be carried for 10 miles. I was a year in Birr, and salt harmed a beech hedge. 70 miles from sea!

70 miles :eek:
I'm over 20 miles from the nearest sea so not impossible then... but unlikely!

I'm only a mile from sea and did not see the deep cold that a few further miles inland saw.

I think I saw one wasp on Inis Mór recently.... not exactly scientific evidence but maybe the severe winter cold inland was a factor.
Would be good to hear other peoples wasp sightings and locations.

Birdnuts

johngalway wrote: »

I wonder has the weather in the West compared to the weather in the East had an effect on wasps? As I don't believe I've seen a wasp yet this year

Edited to add, possibly more the salt spray being carried on the wind than the actual weather,? I believe here int he West, May especially, was considerably wetter than in the East.

By all accounts the West had an even poorer summer then the East and possibly the worst one of the 2007-11 period on the West coast due to persistant W/NW winds:( - glad its coming to an end TBH!!

snowstreams

I saw my first wasps this weekend when i went to wicklow/dublin, and I saw a lot them!
The winter just gone was a lot colder here in Galway city than it was in Dublin. I got -16c on my car thermometer a few times in galway, but only saw -8c minimum in Dublin because the wind was easterly.
I even remember seeing -9c on Inishboffin, so the offshore wind on the westcoast kept the temperatures far lower.
Temperatures that cold would surely have had an effect on the nests.

Hells Belle

I'm in the South East and the garden has been buzzing for the last few weeks with what I thought were little wasps. There are hundreds of them.

I got interested yesterday after watching them for a few weeks and tried to identify with google - Wiki says they are hoverflys, and I did notice a distinct lack of aphids this year although this bunch seem to go for the flowers so I'm not sure.

They have black, yellow and a creamy brown stripe and some had red eyes but you had to get really close to see it. Not agressive at all, even a bit curious if you are wearing colours but they don't land on you. I like these little guys.

I've seen loads of big bumble bees too, but only 1 or 2 I could identify as real wasps.

I don't really like wasps :pac:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Several hundred Wasps destroying my Apple crop today.:mad:

Glico Man

Bryant Brief Millipede wrote: »

Several hundred Wasps destroying my Apple crop today.:mad:

They did the same to my parents orchard of more than 20 or so trees a few years ago. Discovered that they were nesting in a rotting tree stump out the front of the house and suffice to say, my father was not a happy man to lose those delicious apples. Got himself about a gallon of petrol and pumped it into the stump. Went up like the fourth of July. He's fairly handy at anything so it was a controlled fire, in that it only burned what was necessary. Got rid of the hive anyway.

Didn't see any major numbers of wasps for a few years after that until we found that another colony had set up base inside a crevice of the house wall just outside our front door. When it was exceptionally quiet (they lived out in the countryside at the time (hence the orchard)) you could hear buzzing from the wall. Anyway, so one particular day I was there, I was sick and tired of seeing those evil buggers flying into the house through a window or what not, I decided to go ghostbuster on their ass. Got the vacuum, stuck the nozzle as far as I could into the crevice (I'm sure there's a joke there somewhere ) and hoovered a good few of em up.

1966

Yeah we were beginning to think we had a hive somewhere some of the bushes in our garden seemed alive with wasps all over them. Even noticed a few dead ones upstairs in our hall for some reason!! This was last week though but with the crappy weather over the last few days we havn't noticed too many of them about!

Birdnuts

Bryant Brief Millipede wrote: »

Several hundred Wasps destroying my Apple crop today.:mad:

We need to encourage a few of those Honey Buzzards to spread over here from the UK - they specialise in wasp nests I beleive:D

Cicero

Wasp nests are coming to an end at this time...as a result, wasps are out hunting all the sweet stuff like apples and fruit....they iz angry and uppidy this time of year...no different than any other year though

snowstreams

My brother was telling me that some hunters near him shot a large amount of pigeons there recently in a field near him, presumably for vermin control.
The hunters then dumped most of the pigeons into the ditch near my brothers area.
He noticed a huge increase in the number of wasps around him and went to search for the source. To his amazement he found the wasps were eating the dead pigeon carcasses in the ditch!
I never knew wasps would eat meat, although i had heard they will eat other insects, so they are truly very efficient hunter/gatherers!

thedarkroom

Would it be possible that people might be confusing the hoverfly for wasps. There is a plague of hoverflies about the moment and when they are flying it is very easy to mistake them for wasps. I have seen only a few wasps this year so far, even around our apple trees at the back and as I am allergic to wasp and bee stings, I am always particularly conscious of their presence.
Just wondering!

Mothman

Yes, huge numbers of hoverflies, but they don't eat apples, plums, grapes...or meat!

By the way, wasps like moths as well and they are quite effective at chopping them up and flying off with a piece, only to come back shortly after for another piece.

Jacksquat

I just got stung on my neck by one 10 min ago while standing at the door in the sun.:( Felt something on my neck and when I put my hand up I jumped a feckin mile!:P