You can probably count on one hand the number of wasps you have seen this summer which is good news for people who have a phobia of wasps, but not such good news for pest controllers who usually benefit from the extra business wasp nest removals brings in.
Spheksophobia – the persistent fear of wasps - is one of the more common phobias. The word is derived from Greek spheco meaning wasps and Phobos the ‘Greek God of fear’ or dread.
We’ve just posted two stories about wasps on our social media sites and what is interesting is that, while one conforms to our stereotypical image of the wasp, the second article completely goes against our jaundiced view of this insect. It made me think, what do we really know about wasps?
The sudden increase in temperature and sunshine has meant an explosion of blossom and noticeable increase in bees going about their work.
There has also been a worrying surge in calls to pest controllers from people confusing bees with wasps and asking for treatment.
Cleankill is warning people not to tackle wasp nests this year as the dry weather has resulted in extra-large nests and more wasps surviving than usual.
Cleankill received a record number of call-outs for wasp problems in London and the South-east during July, and August is set to be busy as well. Last year, because of the wet weather, there were fewer calls than usual.
It’s August, so it must be wasp-time!
I was reading the BBC News website this morning, I had gone to read a story about the first confirmed case of an Asian Hornet in the UK, when my eye was drawn to the side-bar and a story entitled, “Why are there wasps in my bathroom?”
With summer predicted to return to the UK this week, pest control experts are issuing warnings about the threat of wasps disrupting barbecues and picnics.
Nuts and berries developing weeks ahead of normal are not the only things signalling the arrival of an early Autumn. Pest controllers are receiving calls about wasps four to five weeks earlier than normal and are finding nests that are much larger than usual for mid July. The early development means that later in the Summer some nests could be extremely large as the Queens will have had time to produce more eggs, resulting in more worker wasps and increasing the risks to anyone disturbing a nest.
