Lots of wasps about

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#2476722 5-May-2020 08:57

We've always had a surge of wasps around this time of year - March/April.

They buzz along all the fencelines of our property (we live suburban but next to a bush reserve) and I think their nest(s) hide in the trees in the bush.

Been meaning to do something about ot for years, but never got around to it.

Only been stung once...right on the nip. Stung like hell...and felt like an acid burn for days. Hate wasps. But clearly not enough to do anything about it.

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#2476727 5-May-2020 09:06

Fortunately we don't seem to have these - yet. They've recently become more prevalent in the US.

https://mashable.com/article/murder-hornets/

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MikeAqua

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#2476728 5-May-2020 09:08

Handsomedan:

We've always had a surge of wasps around this time of year - March/April.

They buzz along all the fencelines of our property (we live suburban but next to a bush reserve) and I think their nest(s) hide in the trees in the bush.

Been meaning to do something about ot for years, but never got around to it.

Only been stung once...right on the nip. Stung like hell...and felt like an acid burn for days. Hate wasps. But clearly not enough to do anything about it.

This sounds a lot like our pervious neighbourhood in Nelson. Urban fringe with scrub behind. The wasps used to be quite bad. An organised (by one neighbour) Vespex campaign decimated them. I didn't see one the last Autumn we lived there.

Mike

Fred99

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#2476732 5-May-2020 09:16

Vespex works, but you need a license (can sit the test online) to buy it.

But it won't do anything to nail the queens that are around now looking for a place to overwinter, nor to stop them establishing new nests. It kills established hives at the peak of the season when they're breeding flat out. Adult wasps can't digest protein - only the grubs in the hive can. The adult workers feed on nectar etc early in the season (hence they're a nuisance because they'll go for sweet drinks etc). There's little point putting vespex baits out at early as the worker wasps aren't very interested in foraging for protein, and so the toxic bait is greater risk to non-target species. If you made a sweet bait with the same toxin as vespex, then you might kill some wasps but not the nests, and you'd wipe out non-target species.

Peak season the workers are actively foraging for protein and less interested in nectar / sugary foods. The grubs produce enzymes needed to digest protein, the grubs regurgitate partially digested protein that the workers feed on, the workers can then digest the protein, so at that point you put vespex out, the workers carry it back to the nest, the grubs eat it and slowly die but in the meantime they've been regurgitating the partially digested bait and feeding the workers, the whole nest is nailed. I believe that where it's used appropriately, wasp numbers fall well over 90% (IIRC DOC achieved 99% or so where it was trialled)

So for the same reasons that vespex (protein based bait) is used only at the right time of the season, then traps have the same problem with bait. There are plenty of plans to make your own using soft drink bottles etc - they work OK (in terms of catching plenty of wasps early season) and if you add some white vinegar don't catch many bees. I've tried switching baits to use some protein at the peak season when they'd lost interest in sugary baits - but didn't work very well - anyway if you've got a big nest nearby and you catch a few hundred wasps in it, there are probably tens of thousands in the nest - so you are farting at thunder.

If you can find the nest, then sure you can wipe it out. A trick to help find the nest is for the brave - catch a worker wasp and carefully tie about 6 inches of cotton around it - without damaging it's wings. There's a good chance that's going to be very painful.

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#2476742 5-May-2020 09:46

I've found two (german?) wasp nests on our property in the last couple of months or so. They were easily dealt to with KiwiCare "No Wasps" powder. The best time to puff the powder into/onto/around the nest entrance is on dusk when the wasps have pretty well retired for the day, though one I was able to get up close enough to during the day.

We still have plenty of paper wasps about and I mean plenty, I wish I could find where their nests are.

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MikeAqua

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#2476743 5-May-2020 09:53

Fred99:

Vespex works, but you need a license (can sit the test online) to buy it.

But it won't do anything to nail the queens that are around now looking for a place to overwinter, nor to stop them establishing new nests. It kills established hives at the peak of the season when they're breeding flat out. Adult wasps can't digest protein - only the grubs in the hive can. The adult workers feed on nectar etc early in the season (hence they're a nuisance because they'll go for sweet drinks etc). There's little point putting vespex baits out at early as the worker wasps aren't very interested in foraging for protein, and so the toxic bait is greater risk to non-target species. If you made a sweet bait with the same toxin as vespex, then you might kill some wasps but not the nests, and you'd wipe out non-target species.

Peak season the workers are actively foraging for protein and less interested in nectar / sugary foods. The grubs produce enzymes needed to digest protein, the grubs regurgitate partially digested protein that the workers feed on, the workers can then digest the protein, so at that point you put vespex out, the workers carry it back to the nest, the grubs eat it and slowly die but in the meantime they've been regurgitating the partially digested bait and feeding the workers, the whole nest is nailed. I believe that where it's used appropriately, wasp numbers fall well over 90% (IIRC DOC achieved 99% or so where it was trialled)

So for the same reasons that vespex (protein based bait) is used only at the right time of the season, then traps have the same problem with bait. There are plenty of plans to make your own using soft drink bottles etc - they work OK (in terms of catching plenty of wasps early season) and if you add some white vinegar don't catch many bees. I've tried switching baits to use some protein at the peak season when they'd lost interest in sugary baits - but didn't work very well - anyway if you've got a big nest nearby and you catch a few hundred wasps in it, there are probably tens of thousands in the nest - so you are farting at thunder.

If you can find the nest, then sure you can wipe it out. A trick to help find the nest is for the brave - catch a worker wasp and carefully tie about 6 inches of cotton around it - without damaging it's wings. There's a good chance that's going to be very painful.

All good points and I agree it is too late in the season now for Vespex. But it does work and it's highly selective if used correctly. You run a test line before you deploy it and only if it's being really gobbled up do you start baiting properly. We did ours in later Feb or early March as a rule. It's about a three season pproject to really nail them but you see a big drop each season.

The Vespex licence is very easy to sit. Most people will have no problems.

I have seen wasps aggressively targeting protein (specifically a deer I was trying to skin) in April in Nelson lakes region. They got so bad I had to abandon the animal until it was dark. That was a long time ago when they were really bad.

Mike

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#2476785 5-May-2020 10:21

We (in Auckland) had a massive problem with the German wasps last year, so I finally caved and got the Vespex license to have ready for this year. It was a real mission getting the poison itself, as it's a dangerous good, and the couriers are a bit of a problem.

Then this year we've had almost none. I haven't even had to put the poison out. Very odd.

A few paper wasps around, but also nowhere near what we had last year. The two combined did a huge amount of damage to my deck and outdoor furniture.

elbrownos

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#2476848 5-May-2020 12:00

You can make Vespex yourself with catfood + fipronil (Frontline flea treatment).

Varkk

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#2476854 5-May-2020 12:06

Adding to the Vespex chat. Last year we had heaps of wasps around. Lifestyle block with lots of regenerated bush around. My wife did the Vespex test and put out some baits. The test was watch a short video, read some information, then answer some multi-choice question. Hardest part is putting in your credit card details to pay for it all. This year we haven't seen any foraging wasps at the right time to do it again. We have seen one or two in the last week.

MikeAqua

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#2477645 6-May-2020 10:28

We're in Blenheim at the rural-urban fringe. No common wasps to speak of here. We are close to farm park and I've noticed bait stations there, so they may have knocked them over.

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#2478106 6-May-2020 18:16

elbrownos: You can make Vespex yourself with catfood + fipronil (Frontline flea treatment).

Always stick to the protocol. Preferably get a license, easy as.It's designed to prevent a generalised insect apocalypse killing of non target species.

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#2479651 9-May-2020 10:33

... or, get some praying mantises on the job - they love waspy things:

https://www.cnet.com/news/praying-mantises-will-save-us-all-from-murder-hornets/

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#2479658 9-May-2020 10:56

clevedon:

Petrol poured down the hole at dawn or dusk, if they are nesting underground.

Tried that extensively on a nest during lock down as I could not get anything else, while it did cut them down it did not kill the nest. On l3 managed to click and collect a couple of cans of this - https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/blitzem-wasp-nest-destroyer-350g/p/121101 and one can later the little swines are finally dead.

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#2479683 9-May-2020 11:52

noroad:

clevedon:

Petrol poured down the hole at dawn or dusk, if they are nesting underground.

Tried that extensively on a nest during lock down as I could not get anything else, while it did cut them down it did not kill the nest. On l3 managed to click and collect a couple of cans of this - https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/blitzem-wasp-nest-destroyer-350g/p/121101 and one can later the little swines are finally dead.

You didn't light it from a distance? ;)

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#2479815 9-May-2020 16:40

You didn't light it from a distance? ;)

:-) much to the confusion of the kids there was no lighting involved (fun but somewhat unadvised). The petrol did fume out much of the nest, but the little sods built a new nest just next to the underground one. I worked this out after rolling the log in-front of the hole (the next day) out of the way and this resulted in a cloud of several hundred of the little sods deciding I was their worst enemy. As it turns out only one of them manged to get me but my concerted chemical warfare attack using my newly acquired long range spray did indeed prove I was their worst enemy! Much carnage later they bother my little patch of bush no more.

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