If dodging swooping gulls trying to steal your chips wasn’t already enough, you might be spending your bank holiday trying to keep wasps away from your ice cream too.
Britain is in the middle of a wasp boom. Not only have they arrived earlier than expected, but there are more of them than in recent summers. Experts say 2025 is an excellent year for them.
Populations have soared across the UK thanks to an unusually warm and dry spring. The UK had its warmest spring for mean temperature on record, according to the Met Office.
Cooler, wetter springs help keep wasp numbers regulated by wiping out young worker colonies before they can establish themselves. But not this year. With ideal conditions, more queens survived to establish nests, leading to the early appearance of significantly larger colonies.
“The warm, dry conditions have created the ideal environment for wasps to thrive,” says Prof Seirian Sumner, a behavioural ecologist at University College London that and author of Endless Forms: Why We Should Love Wasps. “That means more colonies, more wasps and a longer season.”
Wasps don’t usually cause picnic chaos until late August, when they begin craving sugar, Sumner said, but the extended warm weather means they are already here.
At the start of the season, wasps are on the lookout for protein to take back to their nests, usually other insects such as flies and caterpillars. This is not ideal if you are munching on a scotch egg, but it’s great for the environment, she said. Wasps are natural pest controllers, and play a key role in regulating insect populations.
As the summer goes on, their preferences shift. Once the larvae are fed and the colonies mature, adult wasps begin hunting for sugar instead. Their narrow waists make them less able to digest solid food, so they gravitate towards convenient liquids, which is when sweet drinks and ice creams become prime targets.
Alcohol, in particular, appears to be a magnet. “Volatile compounds released by drinks like cider, beer and wine are highly attractive to wasps,” said Dr Tilly Collins, a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and researcher at Imperial College London.
Despite their bad reputation, wasps are crucial to our ecosystem. As well as their role in pest control, they are vital pollinators. After decades of declining insect numbers, their return this year is a promising sign that experts welcome.
So what should you do when one circles your sandwich?
Andrew Whitehouse from the charity Buglife charity, which is devoted to the conservation of invertebrates, said: “Don’t swat, and definitely don’t panic. Stay calm and move your arms in a slow and controlled manner. They should get the message.”
Sumner, who carries out a Ham or Jam? survey that tracks wasp behaviour suggests a sacrificial morsel: “Place a wasp-friendly, small portion of food a short distance away. Wasps are opportunists, and usually happy to accept a better offer.”
