"Jake" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:42:29 +0100, "mark"
wrote:



When do they arrive? I've only seen one or two this year but can remember
plagues of them last year but not when. I've a heap of plastic pop
bottles
awaiting conversion into traps.

mark

They're around now but their lifecycle means that at the moment
they're "beneficial insects" (they get their sweeties from larvae).
Later in the summer the larvae have all grown up and the blighters are
looking elsewhere for sweet stuff (like my apples!)

Around here, it's usually around the middle of August that they start
to become a pest. September is their peak month. We've got some giant
citronella candles that we light when we're having a barbecue and they
do seem to keep them away. We also have a collection of plastic
beakers that fit nicely upside down over beer cans (seriously - you
don't want a wasp flying into a beer can before you take the next
gulp!).

We tried the plastic bottle wasp trap idea last year but didn't catch
many.

Fortunately, in 20 years, we've only had one local nest (which turned
out to be in our house so I had to eradicate it). As long as there's
no really local nest the wasp numbers aren't too much of a problem.

Jake

Last year plum picking was hazardous as it seemed like every third one had a
wasp chomping away inside, and also not good for profits as selling the
plums at the gate paid for the heated propagator and other bits and pieces.

I shall make six bottle traps and hopefully have less wasps and more plums.


mark