Wasps!
 

We have already killed four in the house in less than two weeks. They
were queen-sized, and seem to be around even earlier than usual.

--

Jeff

Wasps!
 

Jeff Layman wrote:
We have already killed four in the house in less than two weeks. They
were queen-sized, and seem to be around even earlier than usual.


Do they hibernate? I've been seeing them in the garage since February,
along with big slugs and bees and moths that must have carried over from
last year.

Wasps!
 

On 30/03/2017 18:12, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:55:25 +0100, "Dan S. MacAbre"
wrote:

Jeff Layman wrote:
We have already killed four in the house in less than two weeks. They
were queen-sized, and seem to be around even earlier than usual.


Do they hibernate? I've been seeing them in the garage since February,
along with big slugs and bees and moths that must have carried over from
last year.

Queen wasps do, but all the workers die off in the Autumn. The queen
emerges from hibernation as the weather warms, and flies off to start
a new nest. We've had several banging against the glass in our
conservatory in the last couple of weeks (I shepherd them to a window
and put them out), as well as two or three in the shed, also released.
OTOH honey bees remain alive in their hive over winter, forming a
tight cluster and living off their winter stores of honey,
occasionally emerging on warm days to empty their bowels, although by
now I imagine they've started gathering pollen and nectar to feed to
the first batch of this year's brood.


Don't normally see queen wasps till the raspberry canes are in flower
David@ a dull but rain free side of Swansea Bay

Wasps!
 

Chris Hogg wrote:
On Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:55:25 +0100, "Dan S. MacAbre"
wrote:

Jeff Layman wrote:
We have already killed four in the house in less than two weeks. They
were queen-sized, and seem to be around even earlier than usual.


Do they hibernate? I've been seeing them in the garage since February,
along with big slugs and bees and moths that must have carried over from
last year.

Queen wasps do, but all the workers die off in the Autumn. The queen
emerges from hibernation as the weather warms, and flies off to start
a new nest. We've had several banging against the glass in our
conservatory in the last couple of weeks (I shepherd them to a window
and put them out), as well as two or three in the shed, also released.
OTOH honey bees remain alive in their hive over winter, forming a
tight cluster and living off their winter stores of honey,
occasionally emerging on warm days to empty their bowels, although by
now I imagine they've started gathering pollen and nectar to feed to
the first batch of this year's brood.



I'd have expected queen wasps to be bigger, but I could be wrong. And
there are several of them - about ten this year. Maybe they just took
longer to die? I never kill them, but I'm seeing more dead ones appear
in random places than live ones ATM. One on the garage floor only this
afternoon. I've shepherded about ten out of the garage this year.

Wasps!
 

On 30/03/17 16:32, Jeff Layman wrote:
We have already killed four in the house in less than two weeks. They
were queen-sized, and seem to be around even earlier than usual.

Just killed another wasp (a bit on the small side if it was a queen) in
the bathroom this morning. There must be something here which is
attracting them!

--

Jeff

Wasps!
 

On 01/04/17 10:40, Martin wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 07:42:40 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 30/03/17 16:32, Jeff Layman wrote:
We have already killed four in the house in less than two weeks. They
were queen-sized, and seem to be around even earlier than usual.

Just killed another wasp (a bit on the small side if it was a queen) in
the bathroom this morning. There must be something here which is
attracting them!

Your after shave?

Good point. I got this bottle called "Eau de guêpe" on a market stall.
I've always wondered what it meant...

--

Jeff