On 2013-06-29 13:15:44 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme said:

On Sat, 29 Jun 2013 12:09:37 +0100, Sacha wrote:

We've just destroyed the first nest of the year. The cheeky devils were
taking over a bird box hanging in the courtyard outside the tea room's
back door. It would have been a nightmare for everyone! However, the
pest controller did warn me that they love the sort of humid weather
we've had and that the professionals think this is going to be a bad
year for wasps. Or a good year, if you're a wasp, I suppose!

Honey bees took over one of our bird boxes this year. If anything I
would rather have wasps as their stings don't hurt as much as bees.
Wasps are supposed to kill some other garden pests so maybe we should
leave them to it!

Steve

Out of the question here. Our garden and tea room are open to the
public 7 days a week and few enjoy wasps with their cream tea or
salads! This nest was about 8' from the tea room's back door, so the
wasps would have invaded the kitchen which is full of sugary, jammy
things being baked. Then they'd have moved onto the public area and the
garden itself. I prefer bees because they don't look for trouble as I
always feel wasps do! But even bees would have been a nightmare in that
location for the same reasons but also because people would have been
crossing in front of the nest the whole time and they don't like that.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk