A wasp specialist has shared a cheap and easy life hack to keep wasps at bay this summer.
Wasps are notorious for stinging people and wreaking havoc at sunny summer events during the end of August and beginning of September. This little-known hack can help keep those flying stinging pests at bay and let you carry on enjoying the sun with a beer.
A wasp specialist on Radio Four told listeners how they can easily avoid them by simply feeding them. All you need is a few tablespoons of jam and some water in a jar. Leave the mixture close enough for the wasp to be attracted to it but just far enough to stop them from being the sting of the party.
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Wasps are vegetarians and do not sting people to harm them on purpose. During these months they are starving and need sugar to live. They become frequent unwanted picnic visitors because the sugar overload in ciders and fizzy drinks becomes irresistible after months of hunting for prey.
There are more than 7,000 different wasp species but typically only two are known to sting people. These are the German wasp and the Common wasp. They hunt prey such as caterpillars and flies for their larvae during the early summer months in return for a sugary treat from their Queen.
The wasps do not initially kill other insects but paralyse them to eat fresh food when the captured have their offspring. They also capture spiders and pollinate flowers such as fennel flowers.
Wasps are around from as early as April but many people do not realise this because they are not bothering them for food. The Queen stops laying eggs in August and so their sugar supply is cut off and they have to find other alternatives such as human picnics.
By autumn the wasps can resort to fermented fruit left on trees. This is when people are most at risk because the sugar-addicted insects can get drunk and this is when their behaviour can turn from annoying to life-threatening.
For a more permanent fix at home, you can hang a 'dummy wasp nest'. The insects will avoid your garden because they are territorial and will not bother other colonies.
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