@Rob_le_Pest - can I ask an unrelated question.
We have a wasps nest (in the UK) in a plant pot. So far not unusual but they have dug into the soil for their nest.
Again nothing too unusual - plenty of digger wasp species.
What I’m finding odd is this appears to be a social colony, lots of wasps buzzing around, going in and out of the single entrance in the soil - digger wasps are normally solitary, I know some species build larger “brood chambers” but presumably once all the larvae had hatched that would be the end of the “nest”.
@billybutcher solitary wasps and bees have a single burrow, but there can be hundreds of solitary wasps in one area. More often than not they do not sting so are generally harmless.
Common wasps and german wasps often build colonies un the ground or compost heaps. They usually have one entrance hole about 5mm diameter with a lot of activity. The nest can be up to half a metre from the entrance.
There can be several thousand adults in a nest, they do not like being disturbed, a full beesuit, gaiters, gloves are required when dealing with these, if you have the smallest hole on your suit or are not zipped up correctly, they will find it, get in and say hello.
Not here it’s not. We have lots of wasps this year, the sort that make small nests of which we have many. Currently, they all seem to be intent on destroying our strawberry crop. Many of the strawberries are being eaten by the wasps. At first I thought something else was eating them, but it is the wasps.
Definitely not lots of individual diggers, unless they are all using a communal entrance, not too aggressive even walking close to the nest (the pot is right by the step up to the lawn) - my wife was stung by one but it somehow got into the jeans she was wearing so I think we can say it was provoked. My wife did not enjoy the experience but it was terminal for the wasp.
She was lucky it was only one. Late one evening I was watering a flower bed and disturbed a nest. I was stung and then pursued by others from the nest - I gather they release a pheromone when they sting and so others know they are under attack. I fled back to the house and finished up at an emergency doctors being given steroids.
@billybutcher they look like common wasps. German wasps are very similar but have 3 black dots on their head between the eyes.
My record was 6 wasps up one trouser leg all 'aving a go. I wasn’t impressed, but you learn fast in this job
If you need it treated, pm me your UK postcode and details and I’ll put you in touch with one of my ‘friends’ in the UK.
I would also like to add that wasps and hornets are very useful to the ecosystem, between the 2 they consume 14 million kilo’s of insects in France per year. If they are not causing a problem, leave them alone.
Fair enough - I didn’t think they went for excavation but you live & learn.
Thanks, but…
That’s pretty much why I’m happy to leave them be - unprovoked they don’t seem to be agressive and, as you say, they do a lot of good clearing other pests.
Over the past 10 years we’ve had three nests close to the house, the only one we had “dealt with” was the one actually inside the cavity wall (which they’d accessed via the electricity meter housing), that one was a bit too large for the “live and let live” approach.
Perfect, some people think I’m a merciless destructor of the environment, I love all things nature, but I’m obliged to help if someone’s joie de vie is effected by pests.
I’ve just come back from a 50Km round trip, out of pocket, because I refused to do a treatment.
A friend has solar cascades with pebbles in them, specifically for bees to drink without drowning. And they do. Could you arrange something similar some distance from the pool?
Thanks for your suggestion Vivien. In fact I was about to post here to say thank you to @Rob_le_Pest and @Stella . I’ve just checked the pool and can confirm for the third day running we have NO wasps in the pool and a crowd of very happy ones flying backwards and forwards to their nests from the two wheel barrows I set up with water, brick landing platforms and jam - what more could a wasp want!
