Sting In The Tail

There could be a sting in the tail of this year's warmer summer – but not if Steve Anderson has anything to do with it.

St. Ives pest controller Steve has been inundated with calls from frantic Cambridgeshire homeowners because the moist, hot conditions make a perfect breeding ground for the insects.

A hot, sunny April, combined with ongoing warm and humid conditions have resulted in a huge increase in the number of wasps nests lurking in eaves and attics.

"I've had calls from people who are allergic to wasps' stings and are quite desperate. They're terrified they are going to be stung and end up in hospital," said Steve.

Wasp nests grow through the season from the size of a walnut to that of a rugby ball by June. By September they can house tens of thousands of wasps.

Mr Anderson, from Needingworth, removed a nest the size of a football from the apex of the roof in a four-storey house last week. "I'm regularly getting up to three calls a day from homeowners who have found nests," he said. "One gardener in Peterborough trod on a nest and was stung three times. I sprayed some wasps last week and they became so disorientated they crashed into my face and fell down my shirt."

Mr Anderson was stung 58 times as a child when he disturbed a nest in the belief that wasp grub made good fishing bait. Now he's warning that, with crops of apples and plums in full production, wasps are at their most dangerous to humans as they become drunk on the alcohol absorbed from rotting fruit.

Homeowner Audrey Shoulder, 82, from Kings Ripton, called in pest controllers to deal with a swarm of insects at her home last month. She said: "The neighbours spotted the swarm first of all. It makes you quite uneasy to have a swarm of insects which could potentially hurt you in your own home."

It is widely agreed that the warmer weather was to blame for the increase in insects. Some of the factors like a warm early spring and the current humid conditions may well be responsible for the perceived increase.

The other factor is that queen wasps survived in increased numbers after the cold winter and the larger numbers founded colonies and this is reflected in the increase in the number of workers. The cold winter enabled the hibernating queen wasps to conserve their energy stores and they emerged in April with a greater level of vitality.

Article provided by SDA Pest Control