Yes, you are correct. The terrible thing about the asiatic hornets is not only the danger they present but they kill the honey bees by cutting off their necks.
Jaques,
Asiatic hornets are an alien species that probably should be eradicated. The home grown ones are relatively harmless, despite their fearsome appearance and need to be protected.
I understand that hornets and particularly the asiatic hornets that arrived in containers in the port of Bordeaux some years ago do not recognize this false nest. Problem with hornets is that at this time, there are no real known products to contain them. Problem number two: the firemen in most areas in France will no longer come to eradicate the nests: one needs to hire professionals.
Our wasp nest was by the pool too, not actually in it but under the plastic base of a parasol. They had nade a fantastic construction in the hollows where the stand had been.
They seem to be very opportunistic!
That reminds me that I need to order two for next season.
Thank you Jacques: we intend to get the waspinator for next season.
You should try the Waspinator sold in the UK and in France under different names, pack it with old newspapers and put out near the swimming pool. It looks like a nest and it appears to hornets and wasps as a nest. They in turn will vere away from the area. Other possibility are essences that are placed in plastic containers inside the pool (on top of the water such as against mosquitoes and flies) that drive them off as well but care must be taken with children and swimmers.
:))
And the French thought THEY invented papier mache ;-)
Hi Caroline, I think there is not much you can do about wasps and other insects getting into your pool, apart from removing their nests and removing water supplies. We have a small soft-sided pool and unless we're using it, it's covered. But rain and dew form on the cover and there are always plenty of insects dropping in for a drink. We also have water buckets around the property for birds, our inherited cat, etc, and often there are dead wasps in there, so they are scooped out.
While in South Australia a few years ago, one sight has remained with us, as at that time, it was unusual for us to see it (having lived in NZ with plenty of water). A saucer of water was outside on a veranda and was crawling with wasps, drinking.
Another thing we've seen wasps doing is 'eating' wood - they seem to chew/scrape off the top layer. Combine this with water and they have a perfect building material for their nests.
Which is why our local public pool is sometimes chock-a-block full most of the summer and every other house has a well used pool? Perhaps it depends on where you are.
A story so often repeated and not only in France. Swimming is regarded as a "Cinderella sport" rather than a basic human need.
Good question. We don't have a functioning one in our village, as M. le Maire in his wisdom decided to spend the money set aside for redoing it on a new 'Maison des Truffes' (Aups being the centre of the truffle area round here) and therefore the village children have to be bussed to another village or town to swim in the summer. Grrrr
Has anyone noticed problems with wasps in public pools?
When you put it like that it’s clearly understandable John, thanks.
It's not all about balance, it's about disinfection and keeping the water safe for bathers. Chlorine has a really tough time trying to break down fat's and oils, bacteria like fats and oils as a source of food.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness where pools are concerned but it's also an industry where everything is solvable with a magic bottle of this or that only to find out that another bottle of this or that is now required to put right a problem that was caused by adding something in the first place. Like liquid pool covers, adding things that mess about with the surface tension prevent filters from doing their job properly. To keep a pool clean and not green requires the starvation of nutrients used by algae and bacteria so putting them into the water on purpose is not a good idea.
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But does it really affect the pool balance?
But you may also come across wasps when walking in the garden or having a picnic. They are a fact of life in late summer.
It's often a case of suck it and see as not all wasps will like the taste of salt and can be far more sensitive to the saline solution than humans. Those additives, buzz off and the like are really bad as they may work for wasps but no one considers the effects of adding oils to swimming pools and how that effects chlorine and filtration which is more important than deterring a few wasps. It's a fair bet from the other postings that there are nets nearby so trying to hang the imitation nets around the pool has to be worth a try, rather than messing up the pool filtration. Some restaurants use halves of lemon studded with cloves.