The Wasp*-ABC frequent questions, common misapprehensions

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Eustacia Hall
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1 The Wasp*-ABC frequent questins, cmmn misapprehensins * This infrmatin als applies t hrnets, ur largest dmestic wasp species. Therefre the term wasp is used here partly as an umbrella term, partly the hrnet is mentined separately. Please nte that ther species than mentined in this guide may be fund in cuntries ther than Germany. Wasps and hrnets play an imprtant rle in the ecsystem. As they help t keep several pests at bay, yu d yurself and nature a favur by tlerating nests at unprblematic places. Bear in mind that wasps find fewer and fewer nesting facilities. Regrettably as they are very useful fr us: A large wasp clny catches as many insects as 15 t 20 pairs f tits in the same perid f time! A (smaller) hrnet clny eats abut half a kilgramme (!) f insects per day. Thus yu will find very few pests such as flies and msquites in the vicinity f the nest (hrnets als eat ther species f wasps). Undubtedly these animals lk dangerus. Especially hrnets impress by their size and their lud hum. But they can nly get dangerus if we d nt behave apprpriately. In this guide ntes and tips are arranged by subjects, s yu can easily find answers t yur questins. Imprtant infrmatin and crucial rules f behaviur: In ur latitudes, wasps nly react aggressively when they feel threatened. Other than msquites wasps nly sting in defence, i.e. when they are squeezed r when they see their yung / their nest threatened. Avid fast mvements near wasps. Wasps like lking at us a little clser. D nt thrash arund wildly if a wasp flies twards yu they are ften just curius and definitely d nt want t harm us. Fit fly screens, bead curtains etc. t yur windws/drs. Bear in mind that wasps might sit lethargically n the flr, especially early in the mrning during cld weather (cld-stiffness) and frm September n (exhaustin). D nt shake the nest r breathe n it (wasps feel threatened by carbn dixide in the breathing air). D nt blck the flight apprach path, but under n circumstances clg the entrance hle! A shrt distance away frm the flight apprach path, yu can watch them, especially hrnets, safely. Fr children this is a very special experience f nature. Simple measures t help avid stings First pririty: D nt thrash arund wildly if a wasp flies twards yu. The animals are simply curius n their way lking fr fd and d nt want t harm us. Outdrs: Cver fd and beverages. Wasps are attracted by the smell and learn where t find fd. Cver glasses with saucers r beer mats r check the inside befre drinking. D nt drink directly frm cans r bttles, but use a straw (especially children).

2 Essential ils can keep away wasps and als prtect frm msquites, flies etc: Pelargnium (scented geranium) as table decratin Fragrance lamp with essential ils (preferably clve il, als suitable eucalyptus, tea tree, cedar, lemn ils r a mixture) Spray a mixture f essential ils Stick clves int lemn slices Use tight and self-clsing waste cntainers. Cautin near windfall never g bareft. Search hedges fr hidden wasp nests befre cutting them. Cut widely arund the nest. D nt squeeze r hit wasps caught in yur clthes. D nt panic and remve the insect cautiusly. Indrs (als restaurants, bakeries): Put up flwer pts with pelargnies. Fit insect prtectin dr r bead curtains t entrance dr r set up a cntainer with essential ils. New cnstructin r renvatin: Get windws and drs equipped with built-in fly screen shutters. If a wasp/hrnet gets lst inside yur huse, yu can easily catch it: Slwly put an empty glass ver the insect and push paper r thin card between glass and base. This als wrks with ther insects. Restaurants/bakeries: Extractin hds and air cnditining units can create a slight vacuum and thus prevent smells frm spreading utside and attracting wasps. Bead curtains at pen dr Insect traps are useless They d nt prvide relief as they attract even mre wasps, which, again, land n ur fd. Mrever, ther useful insects such as bees and butterflies are attracted and, like the wasps, die painfully. Instead, yu shuld, at an early stage, draw the wasps t anther part f yur garden by ffering them a saucer with verripe fruit r diluted hney. Since wasps need als prtein fr their yung, yu can als add, fr example, a small piece f sausage. Once the wasps have learnt that there is always fd available there, they will prefer this place. Insect sprays and electric vaprizers can harm yur health Fr many years, the German Federal Envirnmental Agency has warned nt t use these prducts as they are nt as harmless as the manufacturers want us t believe. Many cntain neurtxins (pyrethrids) which als harm humans (children!) and dmestic animals. These txins are spread thrugh the huse dust, and as they decmpse very slwly, they can be detected in the huse fr as lng as a year (!). Symptms f such pisning are headaches, dizziness, tiredness, nausea, ht flushes, but f curse, the cause f these symptms is difficult t diagnse. When the prducts are used utside, birds, bees and ther animals are pisned when they eat, fr example, pisned insects. By the way: Mst wasp species (als the hrnets) are nt interested in ur sweets. Only the tw darknesting wasp species (Cmmn wasp and Eurpean/German wasp) can be fund at ur cffee table. Furthermre, there are harmless hverflies (Syrphidae) which are lkalikes f wasps, but are nly blm visitrs and cannt sting (characteristics: d nt hum, n wasp waist, very shrt feelers, ften stand still in the air). 2

3 Hw can I avid nests at my huse? Mve shutters nce per day (starting in March). This seriusly disturbs nest-building in narrw rller shutter bxes right frm the beginning. Fix a cttn-wl ball with a few drps f essential ils n bth ends f the shutter bx (preferably clve il, als suitable eucalyptus, tea tree, cedar, lemn ils r a mixture). Hwever, nce the queen has started nest-building, she will mst likely nt be driven away by this. Spray the shutter bx with a mixture f ne part essential il (see abve) and ten parts alchl (yu can get such mixture at the chemist s). New building/renvatin: Shutter bxes becme insect-prf by fixing a brush strip r a prfiled rubber seal t the shutter stpper (imprtant: brush strip r seal must reach ut t the guard rails) D nt remve ld nests in narrw cavities. The wasps will nt use ld nests again, and due t lack f space, they cannt build a new ne. What d I d if there is a nest at my huse r in my garden? In additin t the rules f behaviur mentined n page 1, the fllwing measures can help: Yu can influence an awkward flight directin frm/t the nest by putting up screens (e.g. clths, bards). Thus the wasps will be reruted. Undergrund nest: Entrance hles can be secured by a wden frame r a carse wire (paper) basket turned upside dwn. Mark undergrund nests (e.g. with a flag) and brder the entrance within a radius f 2 m using warning tape. D nt use a lawn-mwer in the area and avid directing a jet f water straight n the entrance hle. T avid danger t yur and yur children s health, d nt use insecticides as they als harm inhabitants f the huse. Wasps are getting used t many circumstances and d nt becme alarmed anymre. There have been many cases f peaceful c-existence between humans and fr example hrnets: In the cmmunity f Backnang (Germany), the entrance hle f a hrnet nest was lcated directly abve the entrance f a schl, i.e. 50 cm abve the pupils heads. Despite heavy air traffic, there was nt ne single incident! Please keep in mind: By the time yu discver the nest, it has usually existed fr many weeks (nest-building starts in April/May); the ppulatin f wasps decreases in September (f hrnets even in August) and decrease rapidly in Octber (night frst). Hw dangerus are stings f wasps and hrnets? Unfrtunately, many peple still believe an ld tale: Three hrnet stings kill a human, seven a hrse. But a bee sting has an effect fur times strnger than the sting f a wasp. The truth is that stings f hrnets hurt mre than thse f wasps r bees as their sting is cnsiderably larger. Hwever, hrnets are s peaceful that very few peple have ever been stung by a hrnet. 3

4 A special case is, f curse, an allergy sufferer. The bdy f allergic peple verreacts t prteins injected by the insect thrugh the sting (the term pisn is nt crrect in the usual sense). An assumed allergy shuld be tested by a specialist dctr wh can then d a desensitisatin treatment. By the way: If yu are allergic t bee stings, yu are usually nt allergic t wasp stings and vice versa as a cmbinatin f bth is very rare. What d I d when I have been stung? Cl it: => Put ice cubes in a tea twel. => Apply cling pultice f 70% alchl r acetic clay. Use rich cream t prevent skin frm drying ut thrugh the alchl. Sme husehld remedies: Apply nin half; rub in salt; rub in spit. Stir cld curd cheese (quark), pssibly mixed with healing clay r siliceus earth, until creamy. Apply generusly and let sit until dry. BiteAway stick: Battery-perated stick with small heating surface which heats up t abut 50 degree Celsius fr a few secnds. Placed n the sting, it can deactivate the insect prtein and thus minimize itching and swelling. If the sting is in the thrat, cnsult dctr immediately (danger f suffcatin). Please nte: The bdy s natural defence system learns frm every sting and this reduces the risk f an allergic reactin. Children and wasps/hrnets In additin t the rules f behaviur already mentined, the fllwing simple measures can minimize the risk f yur child f being stung: Place net r net curtain tightly ver pram. Clean cheeks and muth with a wet clth after meals. Avid insect sprays and electric vaprizers as they can harm yur child s health. If yur child shuld nevertheless be stung, please remember that a sting als reduces the risk f develping an allergy later n in life. What d I d if a wasp/hrnet gets trapped in my huse? Slwly put an empty glass ver the insect and push paper r thin card between glass and base (dn t wrry it wn t sting yu). This can wrk even with flies. Open the windw/dr wide the insect will find its way ut (draught) Hrnets als fly during the night (whereas ther wasp species nly fly during the day): If a hrnet gets trapped in the huse: Switch ff the lights inside and pen the windw. The brightness utside is usually sufficient, but if available yu can additinally switch n a lamp utside. If lights inside are n, clse the dr. N permanent utdr lighting install a mtin sensr. Als prtects mths and keeps yur electricity bill lw. 4

5 By the way: If a hrnet flies twards the windw pane at night, this is nt ut f aggressin. It just flies, fllwing its instinct, t the light where it finds its prey. D wasps/hrnet damage fruits? Often yu can hear peple say that wasps nibble at fruit at trees r vines. The fllwing bservatin disprves this claim: A bird net was put ver a vine swarming with wasps (damaged fruit had been remved befre). After a few days there was nt a single wasp t be seen as the birds which had picked at the fruit did nt have access any mre. Wasps nly nibble at fruit whse skin has been damaged by birds, smsis r falling frm a tree. Therefre, it is imprtant t remve fallen fruit if yu wish t avid swarms f wasps. Bear in mind: Wasps are nt nly pest cntrllers in yur garden; they als prevent spreading f muld fungus by eating rtten fruit. Wasps/hrnets use sap fr their wn energy supply ( aviatin fuel ), but they stay near fruit t catch ther insects which they use as a surce f prtein fr their yung. Cmmn errrs Hrnet stings are very dangerus: Three stings kill a human, seven a hrse. Nnsense. A bee sting has an effect fur times strnger than a wasp s/hrnet s. Find mre infrmatin under Hw dangerus are stings f wasps and hrnets? The nest wuld nt be a prblem fr us. But what d we d if they extend it every year? In ur climatic zne, wasp nests are annual nly. In spring the queens which have survived the winter build a new nest. They d nt use an ld nest. There are always s many wasps when we eat utside. If we dn t remve the hrnet nest, there will be hrnets arund when we are having dinner! Only Eurpean/German and Cmmn wasps which usually nest in dark cavities will visit fr example ur cffee table. Hrnets and wasps with freely suspended nests are nt interested in cakes, sweets etc. I dn t want t kill the animals; I just dn t want them in my garden. I am sure it is fairly easy t just relcate the nest. Many peple think it is as simple as that: Cut ff the nest, put it in a cartn and just place in the frest under a tree. A wasp ppulatin relcated in this way will, hwever, usually die after a shrt time. We hpe this infrmatin will cntribute t a relaxed c-existence with yur black and yellw guests r tenants. Margit Eactt Wasp cnsultant at Mühldrf cunty (Bavaria) Please turn ver fr brief verview f wasps 5

6 Fr interested peple: Brief verview f wasps Wasps are best identified by lking at their nest and their way f life. The species-typical markings n the frehead are mre difficult t identify. The mst cmmn wasps t be fund in residential areas: Cmmn wasp (Vespula vulgaris), Eurpean r German wasp (Vespula germanica): Nest is usually in the dark, e.g. dark attics, behind panels, in shutter bxes, muse hles Nest shell with air pckets Shell chre and brittle as made frm rtten wd Cmmn wasp Shell grey as made frm weathered wd German/Eurpean wasp The nly species which are a nuisance during meals. Yu will hardly have any cntact with the fllwing wasps as they are nt interested in ur fd. An exceptin is when they see their nest in danger (e.g. sudden vibratin r shaking, petrl fumes frm the lawn-mwer in the garden shed): Saxn wasp (Dlichvespula saxnica): Nest with grey shell, heart-shaped, rather small, always abve grund, freely suspended Flwer pllinatr Very frequent Tree wasp (Dlichvespula sylvestris): Nest with grey shell, shell layers lie flunce-like n tp f anther (layers utside are shrter), rund r lemn-shaped, rather small, abve r under grund Flwer pllinatr Plistine wasp (Plistinae): Very small nest withut shell, i.e. the cells are visible, nly very few individuals Characteristic and easy t see: during flight they let their lng hind legs hang Flwer pllinatr Median wasp (Dlichvespula media): Nest is freely suspended in bushes r trees, but als at huses; grey, rund with entrance nzzle Rather large animals Rare Hrnet: Nest is always in the dark, chre/brwn shell with air pckets Our largest wasps, but very peaceful Except fr the hrnet, all ther wasps nly fly during the day. All wasps mentined here live in clnies. Apart frm them, there are als slitary wasps, e.g. ichneumn wasps. All f them play an imprtant rle in the natural balance by keeping at bay ther insects such as bark beetles and fruit tree pests. 6

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