Wasps

[Maydup]

Are there more wasps this summer, or is it just my apple tree that's swarming with them? Considering we had a harsh winter I would have thought the beast from the east would have kept the population low.

[Maydup]

Thats an idea, I didnt know you could buy such things

[rowanwitch]

There are more and the amount of dry dead wood around makes it easier for them to gather material to build their nests. With the expected long hot summer/Autumn by the end of the year it may turn out to be a record for our stripy friends

[ladybirder]

I keep a dish of live mealworms on my table in the garden. Yesterday a wasp went into the dish and grabbed a mealworm which was wriggling like crazy trying to get away. Eventually the wasp dropped the mealworm but had bitten a chunk off it. Apparently they have mandibles. Anyone else ever seen anything like that? A first for me.

[gness]

I've always defended wasps and never killed one until this year....they built a nest under decking in my shady wine in the evening spot and were quite vicious......dozens upon dozens of them around me when I sat down....

One sting on the neck did it....they have to go and I'm ridding my corner of the garden with advice from Abers.....but without using chemicals.....too many hedgehogs and frogs to risk that.....but go they will!... :-)

[ladybirder]

A frightened wasp gives a signal to others in the area to rally round and help disperse the enemy. Far be it from me to suggest that a wasp took one look at you and felt the need to call for reinforcements gness;-)
BTW when I saw a reply to this thread I was hoping someone else had seen a wasp eating a mealworm:-(

[ladybirder]

Wasps generally eat meat Spath which is amazing when they have no teeth.

[gness]

Spath...the nest is under carpeted wooden decking, inches from my fence and rocking chair......fire might not be a good idea... ;-)

LB....that is the argument I've always used to stop others killing wasps...and that we need them. I am always successful in making them leave the house with assembly voice orders.....LEAVE NOW! GET OUT THAT DOOR!......and they go....but this was lot pay no heed in the corner of the garden......just gather mates as I sit down.
I did try explaining that we could all share the garden.....the answer was a sting.... :-(

[Chipchopper]

I would say that was a hornet which attacked the mouse

[ubasses]

It is apparently the worst year for wasps and is going to get worse according to todays paper.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/09/wasp-warning-hot-weather-brings-worst-year-ever-stinging-insects/

[Toorak]

Wasps eat meat and are particularly partial to chicken and fish - that’s why they are such a pest at barbecues (apart from loving the sugar in the alcohol too)

[hereIam]

I've never seen a wasp eating a mealworm lb, but the ones I put out are freeze dried, maybe they don't appeal the same !

I don't know about not seeing many wasps, but I have had hardly any bees on my buddleia this year and ONLY two white butterflies (really) - where are they all ??

[Chipchopper]

Its my understanding that wasps take meat to feed their grubs.
Later in the year wasps feed on sugary things like fermenting fruit, which they get drunk on and are most likely to sting, thats the time I like them least of all!

[ladybirder]

More white butterflies my garden this year than I have ever had HiA. Sorry.

[Maydup]

Ah, there are more this year. From an and article in our local press today.

Steve Moreby an insect expert at The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, attributes this summer’s wasp population explosion to a long winter that lead to a “proper spring start.”

“Throughout the winter, the queens are the only wasps left around and they go into a winter-long hibernation,” he said. “They only come out of hibernation once they’re exposed to hot enough weather for them to think that its spring. This can mean that during winters that have some variable weather some wasp queens can be ‘tricked’ into thinking its spring before coming out early and dying in the cold.

“The past winter has been cold without much variation and when the spring got hot it stayed hot, meaning few have been tricked.

“This is why we’re seeing such numbers this summer.”