Will the Wasps Go Away??

[Marcia]

Hi All,

I don't think I've got any nest in my house but my garden is infested with wasps! They drive me nuts as I don't feel comforable doing gardening stuff while they are buzzing everywhere. And what's more, they've been eating all my fruits and the blackbirds can't even get close to their beloved raisins anymore. I'm not leaving anymore fruits for the birds from now on. I don't want to use any pesticide, I just would like to know if it's a seasonal nuisance. If it is then I'll just let them do their business and go away. If not, then I'll need to think about using wasp traps. I just want them to go!

Here's a pic of one of them stuffing it's face in a raisin:



No dignity at all...

[eucera]

Birds feed... and wasps "stuff their faces"! I'm not sure the wasps realise that the raisins are meant for the birds

It's certainly seasonal though. You've got a few more weeks of it yet I'm afraid

[dragonfly]

Hya my advice is be very careful at this time of year wasps can be aggresive becuase they will eat all the over ripe fruit on the floor and get drunk on the the juice as it ferments and will sting the first thing they see my advice get rid as soon as poss

[Dogghound]

I would advise you try and fight your fear, they are unlikely to cause you any harm whilst your in your garden. They are not particularly a threat.

[Kayleigh]

Tip..
leave some water out in a shallow dish they will be more interested in that and not you.

[caladina]

i remember leaving a half can of fizzy drink out one day, the next day i saw it and was about to take it and chuck it out when i saw a wasp go in it, i waited a while and it never came out so i poured the drink out and i was breifly shocked as around a 20 wasps poured out of it, all dead, they must have gone in during the day and not been able to fly out and drowned
maybe a cheap trap?

[Marcia]

Hi,

Thanks everyone for the advices. I'll try a bit of everything and mostly I'll try to be patient and ignore them. It's rainny here today so they are not around, pheeew. Well, there're no fruits left too Incredible how they completely devoured all the cherries only left the stones in the stems...

Originally Posted by eucera

Birds feed... and wasps "stuff their faces"! I'm not sure the wasps realise that the raisins are meant for the birds

LOL You're right maybe I'm being a bit unfair to them, they all need to eat and survive. But in that picture that wasp resembles of myself with a chocolate cake. None of us (that wasp and me) eat raisins or choc cake to "feed" ourselves. No, no. We dead right stuff our faces, big time!

[Lance Morgan]

I'm afraid the wasps will be buzzing until late autumn weather permitting. The first frosts usually see them off each season and the queens hibernate until the following spring when the weather warms up and they go offin search of new nesting sites.

[nightshade]

I count myself lucky if I see a Wasp nowadays, like everything else they are being pushed towards extinction because we humans will not share.
I would take the time to find their nest or main area of activity and feed them as you would feed the garden birds,a small pile of crushed windfall apples or similar, give them their own bird/wasp table so in the main they stay in a specific area.
A really fascinating sight is Wasps taking pieces of minced beef off a dish and forming an airlift chain, as they take it back to the nest, a real photo opportunity

[Marcia]

I know what you mean, I do not want to contribute to their extinction, that's why from the very beginning I've decided not to use any pesticide to get rid of them. If their visits are seasonal as many of you have told me then I'm fine with that, they can eat what they want as long as they leave afterward. I did try to give them their own food, I placed a dish with raisins and apples under the cherry tree in hope they would be content with that. But because my garden is tiny and there are so many of them, they would eat from their dish, the birds tray, the cherry tree, the strawberries and some would get inside the house to look for more food . I do share, I just don't want them to take over.