Wasps Invade Cheshire

A combination of ideal weather – going back as far as last winter – and abundant food has seen a boom in Cheshire's wasp population and a windfall for pest control companies.

Pete Jameson, the owner and self-described "chief executioner" of Dynamic Pest Control, says fruit fly infestations doubled this year compared to last. But even that jump falls well shy of wasp-related calls. "I'm getting three times the amount of calls this year than I've ever had before," he said. "A lot of times I'll go to a house, walk up to the door and say, 'Yeah, I see the nest.' Then they say, 'How can you see it from here, it's at the back of the house.' There's another one they hadn't even noticed."

"We've had an overwhelmingly high volume of wasp-related calls this year. At one property I removed 14 nests and we're getting people who have never had the problem before calling."

Some business and property owners have taken matters into their own hands, installing traps in an effort to make life more pleasant for patrons, colleagues and family members. One such man is David Sargeant, owner of Local Nosh in Chester. "We don't get much of anything else, but those wasps are a real problem, especially in the last month, buzzing around the food and drinks. Thankfully we've had no stings, but they are extremely irritating for customers," he said.

Having asked for advice on appropriate and effective traps from Pete Jameson, Mr. Sargeant was able to curb his pest problem.

Late summer is typically when the wasp population peaks every year. This is when worker wasps go into overdrive to prepare their queens for hibernation. This combined with the fact that 2010 has been an especially good year for wasps has exacerbated the problem and made it much more noticeable to residents.

"It's hard to explain fully because ecology is an inexact science. Favourable weather last winter may have helped more queens survive until this spring, before more ideal conditions produced a large set of new workers," said Pete.

However, it's not all bad news. Residents of Cheshire and indeed the UK should console themselves with the fact that wasps are not a danger to public health, except for the tiny minority who are allergic to stings. Residents with an infestation should certainly call in the professionals at the earliest opportunity.

"The last thing we want is someone going out with a spray or some kind of chemical and using it inappropriately and in the process even get attacked by swarms of these things," Pete said.

As a final word of warning, Mr Jameson offers caution to homeowners who think they can handle a wasp nest without expert help. "I've had a few situations where wives call me up and tell me their husbands have been tackling it for a couple of weeks, getting stung and everything else. The husbands are never around when I get there: hiding in their rooms probably, feeling emasculated," he said.

The thing to remember is that all these colonies collapse at the end of the summer. And after a particularly good year, the next year they tend not to do so well.

Article provided by Dynamic Pest Control