Talkback: Wasps - Page 2 - Talkback

16/05/2011 at 07:45

Don't forget their alarm pheromones - kill one and it summons others to the fray! Most of the negative aspects of wasps revolve around the redundant workers at the end of the year when they crave sweet things. Do honeybees not have a strategy to deal with wasps involving overheating them? As honeybees are non-native I'm not surprised they might struggle.

Gardeners' World Web User

16/05/2011 at 22:08

Very interesting comments about the dreaded "Jasper". This year I have two bees nests in my garden within about 15feet of each other, recently I have noticed a Queen wasp going in and out of a hole which is located in a bank 'slap bang' in the middle of the two bees nests!!....Is this a catalyst for a lot of trouble to come I now wonder???.... http://higgysgardenproject.blogspot.com/

Gardeners' World Web User

17/05/2011 at 12:56

I don't mind wasps in the garden BUT they often nest in one of our compost bins and we have four in a row. When they have a nest there we can't go near the bins so we can't turn or use the compost all season long. Both my husband and I got stung several times just working near the area, so I am afraid if they nest there again, they will have to go. We have had nests in the walls in the house and we usually let them be. Does anyone know if one of these artificial wasp nests really puts them off building a nest there?

Gardeners' World Web User

19/05/2011 at 16:55

Hi All - Had fun reading the blogs - especially the wasps - they certainly generate a lot of attention. I have a question though? when setting wasp traps (which i have not been driven to yet) in Budist culture all living things are supposed to stay alive. Anyway how do you get rid of the poor things once they have been trapped. For future knowlwedge rather than a requirement. Hope weather is nice wherever you all are. Happy Gardening.

Gardeners' World Web User

20/05/2011 at 09:33

Hi Weedinator Most traps I've seen are used with liquid, which drowns them. You could use a drier bait - I've found they enjoy the dried fruit and apples that I put out for the birds and then release them at a distance/time which is more convenient. The other option is baiting them away from the area you want to use with a little jam, honey or sugar water. This can work well depending on how close your neighbours are! Good luck finding a way to get along with them and just becuase it's in their nature to sting, doesn't mean it's in ours to kill them :)

Gardeners' World Web User

20/05/2011 at 18:13

PLANTS FOR THE COLD GREEN HOUSE. Can anyone give me a list of Flower seeds to sow now (May june)in my greenhouse, which I can keep in my cold greenhouse over the winter if necessary. Many thanks, Fred Mason

Gardeners' World Web User

21/05/2011 at 10:24

I have a problem with my rhubarb. ive have 2 pulls from it but now the stems have gone small ans soft. any ideas wot it is and wot i can do about it.

Gardeners' World Web User

21/05/2011 at 16:21

I have violas in containers that are now going a bit straggly. What do i do with them?

Gardeners' World Web User

21/05/2011 at 17:23

We were so pleased with your session at Nunhead Cemetery Open Day that we bought your book. It is called EXTREME INSECTS and is very good, with excellent photography and startling text about the strange critters.

Gardeners' World Web User

23/05/2011 at 02:47

My grandmother told me that if I was frightened by wasps, I should talk to them. It sounds for the fairies but it does calm you down and you are less likely to get stung. Oddly, if you ask them to go away(Nicely!), they very often do!

Gardeners' World Web User

23/05/2011 at 08:22

Can someone tell me why my alliums revert to white?I live on chalky soil.

Gardeners' World Web User

23/05/2011 at 14:16

Great to see so many comments still coming in. Michaela. I really can't believe a bag-like thing hanging in a tree will disuade wasps. Most are not aerial nesters anyway, they make their carton nests in holes in the ground. Weedinator. The traps kill. There is no use collecting live wasps and then letting them go later. Simon. Nunhead Bug Hunt was exhausting, but as good fun as ever. Thanks for the plug. The book is available from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Extreme-Insects-Richard-Jones/dp/0007310773/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306160128&sr=8-1 and lots of other bookshops.

Gardeners' World Web User

13/06/2011 at 04:24

In the early spring I set out wasp traps filled part way with orange pop. This works well in getting the queen's, last year had no wasps at all. Under no circumstances do I in any way encourage them to stay, and do everthing in my power to keep them away. Two years ago I was stung and it was almost my last, highly allergic, with two epi-pens now everwhere I go.I know they are a part of our landscape, but just not in my yard.

Gardeners' World Web User

26/06/2011 at 17:21

Can anyone please tell me why a wasp was biting off pieces of ham from my picnic table and flying off with it.

Gardeners' World Web User

02/07/2011 at 11:33

It's so nice to find some pro-wasp comments for a change - the internet is awash with methods of eradicating them. A queen built her nest in one of our bird boxes this year which I've been following with great interest. At first I was annoyed that they'd prevented us the wonder of baby birds in the garden but I'm a live and let live kind of guy and also have a soft spot for bugs (unless they are devouring my plants). I can get up really close (like within inches of the entrance) without causing stir now, although I do keep one eye on them when I mow the lawn as there's something about the lawnmower (perhaps it's hum) that can get them agitated. We have several hanging baskets in our garden. The three nearest the wasps nest are completely free of greenfly and are thriving, while the others (while are thriving too) are doing slightly less well and have small pockets of greenfly. We have barbecues and they are no bother to us at all. I'll take the advice from here and put out some jam for them nearer the end of the season.

Gardeners' World Web User

11/07/2011 at 13:28

I have a nest of wasp like insect it seems to like my cranebill, they are not very large, when I approach the nest, they fly out in great numbers, I have become very fond of them, I can work around them. Kate Bradbury thought they could be a bumblebee, but they are too small.

Gardeners' World Web User

13/07/2011 at 11:24

Reply to Jules Meat is meat to a wasp, whether it comes in the form of insect prey or is pilfered from sandwiches. You should always be wary of wasps visiting your food, though, because they will also visit carrion and may be traipsing bacteria and other germs over your plate.

Gardeners' World Web User

15/08/2011 at 12:22

At present I am pleased to say I have hundreds of wasps in my garden due to windfall pears. As I don't like pears I'm perfectly happy to let the wasps stuff themselves silly - much better way of recycling fallen fruit as wasps can make short work of an entire pear! There can be two dozen or more wasps per pear and they barely take any notice if I lift and move a fruit onto the grass! I have not been stung (yet) since the wasps appear to be inebriated. (I'm sure I can hear drunken singing!)However, my cat is not amused and thinks I've gone mad harbouring such winged irritants.

Gardeners' World Web User

28/11/2011 at 18:43

wasps are nature's dustbin men, they tidy and clean up all the rubbish plus all of the posts mentioned above...

Pestsurrey

24/02/2012 at 23:03

I am a pest controller based in Surrey. I have written a very good article on how a wasp sting nearly cost one of my customers her sons life. If you would like to read it the please put up the link http://www.waspnestssurrey.co.uk/apps/blog/wasp-stings-can-be-fatal-1

Many thanks and keep up the good work!