What Good do Wasps do?

In Pests in August, Pests in July, Pests in September, Pests in Summer, Stories from the Pest Control team, Wasps

What Good do Wasps do?
This is a question that a surprisingly high number of people ask when we are treating wasp nests.

All insects perform some function and wasps are no different – yes they can be an aggressive nuisance insect that stings and can be a potential hazard (many people die from wasp stings every year), and they destroy fruit in the Summer and Autumn.

They do however due some good. At the start of the nest’s life in the Spring the Queen will collect caterpillars, flies and other insects which are chewed up and fed to the grubs. These grubs came from eggs that the Queen laid. The grubs pupate and turn into sterile females which are the workers. Once the Queen has enough workers she no longer leaves the nest, she just lays more eggs while the workers take over collecting food for the grubs and queen as well as taking over nest building expansion into which are built new cells to contain more grubs.

The population can expand from one (the Queen) to several thousand by mid Summer. It is during this population expansion phase that wasps actually do a lot of good. The grubs are fed masticated insects, flies and caterpillars. As the workers feed the grubs the grubs secrete a sweet substance which the workers eat. After late Summer the grub production ceases. The last grubs to be produced are the new Queens and Drones, when winter arrives the new fertilized (fertilized by Drones from other nests) Queens hibernate and start new nests in the Spring. This end of grub production ceases at the same time as the fruit ripens. So the wasps have a source of sweet food nearly all Summer long. It seems as if the nests life cycle is designed around the ripening of fruit. So a wasp nest will do a lot of good, killing maybe millions of caterpillars and flies. Flies spread disease and caterpillars destroy plants. Although in the late Summer and Autumn they cause a lot of damage to fruit.

Find out more about having wasps removed on our website at www.pestuk.com/wasps-control.htm

To book a pest control treatment or free advice then please call us at PEST UK: 0330 100 2811 (local rate) or 0800 026 0308 (free from land lines & some mobiles).