Wasp warfare.

My garden is absolutely buzzing with insect life. Masses of bees. Then hoverflies, ladbirds and, unfortunately, loads of wasps.

I know they are beneficial for gardens, but I'm sorry, I hate them, so I've been a bit brutal.

The wasps visit a Cherry Laurel to nibble on the insects and grubs that call it home. What I am doing is covering it in ant powder, which contains Permethrin. The idea being that they will take it back to their nest, wherever that may be, and bye-bye wasps.

I know this is indiscriminate - though the bees are safeish because they don't go near it - and it's probably downright irresponsible, but I'm sorry, I'm at my wit's end so the gloves are off!

Thoughts? Any better, less Vietnam-esque ideas on how to have a relatively wasp-free season? I don't think the nest is close by - they just like my garden!

 

That is sooooo cruel! What have they ever done to you? or are you afraid of their stings?

 

Well, they've stung me for no reason, so I'm just getting my own back!

I would like to leave them alone, but they are just such a nuisance, and can even spoil a day's pottering in the garden sometimes - I just get so many of them some summers.

 

Have a look at the link Andrew,
http://www.thegardenersshop.co.uk/waspinator---buy-one-get-one-free-676-p.asp
I think it's better than the method you are using.

 

Why do you hate them? They won't bother you unless you bother them. At this time of year they are beneficial as they eat insects that are eating your plants.

Our daughter has a 'waspinator' as per Alice's link and it seems to be working - they were bothered with wasps nesting in the roof and have a new baby.

 

I've had 2 waspinators in my garden since last year. The main wasp activity is no more than a couple of feet from one of them. I've often seen wasps buzzing round and crawling on them. They simply do not work.

Dave - I know they are beneficial. I'm trying hard to tolerate them but just can't - it's almost like a phobia with me. Damn things!

 

Andrew, you and the insect world would be better off if you moved somewhere without a garden.

As I haven't seen a wasp this year, I doubt if it is them, more likely a bee or hoverfly.

 

I'm afraid we've had two in the house already Hasbean, and they were big'uns although I don't think they were hornets. So it looks as though they are on the prowl already.

Chris

 

I know the difference between a wasp and a hoverfly or bee thank you very much Hasbeen! Honestly.

Trust me, there is a huge amount of wasp activity in my garden. I'm apologetic about my nuclear approach to the problem, but as I said, it's last resort time.

I'm happy to report that the toxic-death approach seems to be working so far, with wasps becoming less frequent and no impact at all on the hoverflies or masses of bees visiting my spring flowering shrubs.

 

I hate wasps too, they terrify me tbh..I like bees though...sort of..as long as they don't come too close.

I can confirm I saw a wasp in the garden this weekend..not an indicator of things to come I hope!

 

Chris,

mabe they are the queens.

life cycle (cut and pasted).

Life Cycle
•The fertilised queen emerges from hibernation in the spring and sets about looking for a suitable nest site. For the Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris this is usually a hole in the ground but may be a cavity in the loft or in a garden shed.
•She sets about making a basic nest constructed from chewed wood pulp mixed with saliva.
•She starts by constructing a single layer or canopy and works outwards until she reaches the edges of the cavity. Beneath that she constructs a stalk to which she attaches several cells in which she lays eggs.
•These fertilised eggs will develop into sterile females known as workers.
•She initially raises the first few sets of eggs herself until enough workers exist to maintain the offspring and to build the nest without her assistance.
•The queen's only job now is to lay more eggs.
•By the end of July she will have produced enough workers (may be up to 10,000) for them to completely take over the maintenance of the nest and the feeding of the larvae etc.
•Towards the end of the autumn larger cells - known as "Royal Cells" - are constructed and are used to rear the queens that will found next year's colonies (it would appear that whether a larva develops into a worker or a Queen depends to some extent on the amount and type of food given to it). Males are also produced at the same time from unfertilised eggs. These leave the nest, mate and the mated females (future queens), then overwinter to start the cycle again.
•Meanwhile, the founder queen, the males and all the workers die and the nest becomes deserted.

 

No, they aren't queens. They are workers.

I know what queens look like too - spent a few weeks trying to nail them when they came to chew my shed for the nest-building last year!

 

i had one come in at the weekend. didn't bother me though when it was stuck in the window, and just found its own way out.

 

This is very strange, I've never found wasps to be a problem at this time of the year, in autumn yes but not in spring.
How can you actually descriminate between bees wasps and hoverflies, if your poisoning your plants.
This is the kind of approach that gets insecticides banned.

I was actually set upon by loads of wasps in October one year when I stumbled across a nest, got stung many times and my dog was also stung, but I survived.
Must say it scared me at the time, but I managed to out run them:lollol:

I just look upon them as something that should be treated with respect, I rarely kill them if I can avoid it

 

Hoverfly