Wasp Nests for June 2014

In Pests, Pests in June, Pests in Spring, Pests in Summer, Wasps

At PEST UK we have done (so far at the time of writing on 30/6/14) 134 wasp nests. Last June we did 163. Our turnover was much higher this year than last year this is due to the increase in Bee and other jobs. We posted a video of Rick Pellen who is PEST UK’s Wokingham technician, destroying a wasp nest in a bush. The nests built externally are either the German Wasp or the Tree or Wood Wasp. The Common Wasps rarely nest outside preferring to nest in building cavities. German wasps will nest outside and inside as well. Wasp nests that are built outside generally don’t get as large in either size or population numbers as with external nests more time and energy is needed to proof the nest against the weather as well as anchoring the nest against the wind. They do have an advantage in that they spend less time cooling the nest which is a common problem for wasp nest built in buildings. Lofts especially get very hot and wasps will have to collect water to place on the outside of the nest. This acts like an air conditioner, the process of evaporation cooling the nest. The worker wasps will also fan the nest to cool it. We often get calls in hot weather from people at night hearing a buzzing noise, this is the wasps fanning the nest. If a nest is in a building and the outside temperature exceeds 20 C then time and energy will have to be spent cooling. Prolonged hot weather stresses wasp nests and can even lead to the nest dying out. The wasp year for 2014 will probably peak in August as there was a slow start even though the weather was warm but it was wet.