Wasp Alert

Higher temperatures after so much rain have resulted in an explosion in the number of wasps. With nests up to four times bigger than normal, experts are warning that sunbathing and picnicking Britons should be on the alert for one of the worst plagues in 25 years.

The mild winter and warm spring has resulted in far more queens surviving than usual. With colonies able to contain many hundreds of wasps, the population has boomed this year and now with fruit becoming ripe on our trees, these wasps are certainly making their presence felt.

Normally, wasp nests are built over the summer as a whole, but heavy rainfalls in the early part of the summer have forced most of these insects to stay inactive until now.

Across the UK, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of callouts regarding wasp infestations compared with last year, and NHS Direct have said that they had received 28 per cent more calls over insect bites and stings during August compared with last year.

The warm and wet conditions have been perfect for wasps. Unfortunately, this means that there is a greater potential for a lot more people to get stung. Britain's current spell of good weather has encouraged a flurry of gardening, barbeques and summer parties, which has caused an overlap between the human and wasp populations.

Increased numbers of wasps flying around your garden or office are usually tell-tale signs that a wasp colony has moved in. However, be warned, as you may be suprised at the actual number of wasps that you find. Many more occurences of multiple nests on a single site have been found - it has not been uncommon to discover three or four nests in an attic.

With so many wasps and the threat of an Indian summer this year, it would not be suprising to see wasps causing a nuisance well into September for both homes and businesses across Britain.

Wasps' nests should be left alone unless they cause a problem. Although they can leave a nasty sting, wasps are considered useful as they kill hundreds of other insect pests such as aphids, flies and caterpillars, which they feed to their larvae.

Of course, if your wasp nest does need to be removed, it is unwise to try do this yourself. It is always worth getting a qualified pest control company to come in and remove the problem for you, and most reputable companies will offer free revisits, thus ensuring that the wasps shouldn't ruin what is left of your summer.

Of course you could always rely on the weather to do the job for you as a cold spell of weather is likely to destroy a nest.

Article provided by SDA Pest Control