Around this time last year, I had an unfortunate encounter with a wasp in a cafe. As I was rummaging through my bag for a magazine, I ended up getting stung on my finger. Recently, while enjoying a meal at a restaurant, I had a run-in with another wasp, adorned with football stripes. It was lured to the table by the aroma of orange juice and pancakes. This persistent insect returned multiple times, much to my annoyance, until it was finally shooed away through the nearest exit.
These now unemployed wasps are aimlessly wandering around, looking for drinks, food, and overripe fruit. I wonder if people still place half-filled jam jars on their window sills to catch these pesky creatures. Last year, some readers even sent in photos of wasp nests in their homes and garden sheds, seeking advice on the best ways to get rid of them.
Wasp nests can accommodate up to 1,000 or more individuals, but their lifespan is only a few months. The queen wasps work tirelessly to establish colonies and lay eggs, eventually wearing themselves out. In the spring, new queens emerge, mate with males, and go into hibernation to set up their own colonies.
Life moves on. The large nests, resembling footballs, in attics or sheds gradually decay, with spiders and other small creatures cleaning up the remains.
These jobless sugar-seekers also face challenges as they no longer receive secretions from larvae. Gardeners will miss their assistance in controlling aphids and other plant-eating pests. Interestingly, blame is being directed at the UK horticultural trade for facilitating the entry of Asian hornets (Vespa velutina) into Britain through potted plants.
While the European Union has banned the import of potted plants with UK soil, there doesn’t seem to be a reciprocal ban in place. This allegedly allows hornets to travel undetected in soil.
Since the first sighting of Asian hornet nests in 2016, England has received 45 reports of their presence this year.
Hornets, known for preying on honey bee apiaries, arrived in Europe in 2004 after hitching a ride on a ship that had docked in France.
Buglife, a UK insect watchdog, has criticized the lax biosecurity measures. They argue that the Windsor framework, the post-Brexit agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, allows for potential invasion by Asian hornets. Matt Shardlow, CEO of Buglife, warns that if Asian hornets establish colonies in the UK, they could easily spread to Ireland through the Irish Sea.
However, an official UK source disagrees. They claim that the UK has one of the toughest pest barriers in the world, making it highly unlikely for Asian hornets to enter the country through imported potted plants.
Dealing with hornets can be challenging. I know someone in New England who had to don a “space suit” just to tackle the hornets in their garage but was eventually forced to retreat.
More than a century ago, the poet Robert Frost described the relentless nature of hornets in a verse: “Verse could be written on the certainty with which he penetrates my best defense, of whirling hands and arms about the head, to stab me in the sneeze-nerve of a nostril… he stings me first and stings me afterwards. He rolls me off the field head over heels.”
Poor Frost. He still has a long journey ahead before he can rest…
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