Wasps are protected. This protection was not established without reason: wasps belong to a group of winged creatures that are extremely important to our ecosystem. The inhabitants of a single wasp nest eat about half a kilogram of other insects every day. They are thus crucial in keeping insect pest populations in check. This will also help you, because you will find far fewer creepy-crawlies in the garden. Wasps also help your garden because they pollinate many plants. And they can reduce pests on certain plants to such an extent that the plants can withstand occasional violent attacks without the harmful use of chemicals. Against the apple spider moths, which often occur in excess after mild winters, e.g. B.
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Dealing with wasps
Wasps are also not nearly as dangerous as reports of wasp infestations and wasp stings that keep appearing over and over again lead us to believe. In fact, there are about 100,000 species of hymenoptera, the order of insects to which wasps belong, in total. However, only very few of them come up with the idea of messing with humans under extreme circumstances: only the colony-forming insects do that. Of these, there are only three species that defend their states with such fierceness that they may come into conflict with humans:
- Honigbiene
- two of the native wasp species, the German wasp and the real wasp
However, you have to be pretty clumsy with wasps to even get a sting. Conversely, you will almost certainly be able to avoid every wasp sting in your life if you learn a little about how to deal with wasps properly. By the way, more knowledge should always help against panic fear. If you know more, you can assess dangers better.
Why do wasps sting
These species are not “inherently aggressive”. They only fight back when they have the feeling that they are now going straight to the leather. If you e.g. For example, if you want to crush a wasp between two fingers, you have a good chance of getting stung. The chances are smaller, but still good if you appear to be threatening a wasp’s nest. The term “appear” was chosen deliberately. Wasps usually do not have the mental capacity to recognize that a person approaching their nest does not have trespassing in mind. The defensive behavior leads to the simple but extremely useful conclusion in wasp treatment that a wasp will not harm you if you calmly move away from it. You would theoretically even survive a wasp in your clothes without a sting,
But what anyone can do with a bit of practice is slowly and calmly pushing a single wasp away with your hand or newspaper, or calmly withdrawing when several wasps are flying around you. The frequently observed counter-example, frantic waving of the arms, is an invitation to stab.
Keep away and control Vespinae
When in doubt, stepping back works well, but it also means that you are clearing your favorite spot for wasps. If you don’t feel like doing this, you can plan other strategies in advance to keep the wasps away from your favorite spot in the garden.
He doesn’t lure the wasps in, neither with cakes or other food left uncovered for hours, nor with lots of deodorant or perfume. Not even with human sweat, after sport or gardening is showered first.
Drinking glasses should be covered, plates that have been eaten should be cleared away immediately, and small children’s mouths should be carefully wiped after each treat.
Garbage cans for leftover food will be placed at a distance from the seat.
In the late summer, the most caution is called for, this is when the nests are at their highest population density. Lots of brood want to be fed, queens and drones want to be fed, so the worker wasps have endless mouths to feed. With the courage of desperation, they dare to do things that their prudence would normally never have allowed.
The clever garden owner takes advantage of exactly that and provides distraction fodder at a distance. This will also lure away the wasps that have not yet found the delicacies in the back garden.
Not only do wasps like cake, as long as there are still larvae to feed, they are also keen on any “insect-like” protein they can get their hands on, e.g. B. encountered as cooked ham on a piece of bread. Otherwise they should find ripe grapes delicious.
During the most wasp-rich period, you can even adapt the garden clothing to make it “wasp-friendly”. Wasps find white T-shirts just as unattractive as beekeepers’ white protective suits, which is why they are white.
The garden is designed in such a way that the plants near the seating area emit unpleasant smells (tomatoes, basil). In a distant part of the garden, everything that wasps (and bees) find really tasty is gathered together (“bee pasture”).
At the seat itself you can then unleash your own olfactory fireworks to drive away the wasps. They should not like cloves, lemon, lavender, frankincense and some other essential oils. This can only be guaranteed in combination with other defensive measures. Dutiful wasps are unlikely to be deterred by an unpleasant smell alone.
Therefore, you should generally consider whether your garden is designed in such a natural way that animals that keep the wasp population in your area within limits can also settle there. The garden spider is responsible for this work, dragonflies and a lot of birds also take care of an excess of wasps. However, they need a comfortable, largely naturally designed environment with nesting opportunities and corners with leaves or deadwood to establish themselves in the garden.
If you do get a sting, you will usually soon forget it after cooling the puncture site for a while. Only about four percent of Germans are at risk of allergies. In the case of unusually severe and long-lasting reactions at the injection site, you should consult a doctor and, if necessary, start hyposensitization.
Simply remove the wasp nest in the garden?
Because wasps are so useful, we protect them by law. Every normal wasp, like every wild animal, enjoys general protection under the Federal Nature Conservation Act. According to § 39 BNatSchG, any willful disturbance of wild animals is prohibited. Even less, of course, should you catch, injure or kill wasps without good reason. The habitats of these animals must also not be disturbed or destroyed without good reason.
Quite a number of wasp species are even better protected, including many smaller wasps in addition to the hornets. Section 44 (1) BNatSchG also applies to them in conjunction with the Species Protection Act, according to which any disturbance affecting an inhabited nest must be approved in advance by the nature conservation authority.
This has far-reaching implications for deciding whether to remove a wasp’s nest and who can take action against that wasp’s nest. Because in a nest in which a colony of wasps lives, a whole lot of things are basically not allowed. This applies to all means with which you act against the wasps, that they pay for your actions with the loss of life and home. The wasps must neither be destroyed with household remedies nor smoked out. Repositioning is also not allowed without further ado. An impairment in any form is only conceivable if there is a reasonable reason.
Whether this is the case, you must not decide for yourself based on your personal feelings, but this reason must be objective. When this is the case has already been the subject of many supreme court decisions. In any case, there is no reasonable reason to take action against a wasp nest if it gets in the way, disturbs customers, takes time to detour or the like. A reasonable reason for taking action against a wasp nest is e.g. B. considered an allergy proven by clinical tests. If it is given, the most gentle means for the wild animal must of course be selected. Accordingly, resettlement ranks before any major impairment.
If you are sure that there is a reasonable reason and you are sure that you can carry out a species-appropriate implementation yourself, you have not yet cleared all the hurdles to taking action yourself. You would also have to be sure that this wasp nest is a nest of the German or the real wasp, the wasp species that are only under “simple” nature protection. However, if you are not a wasp connoisseur and cannot distinguish a German wasp from a specially protected gyroscope wasp, your project could still be subject to approval. If the nature conservation authority is to grant an exemption under Section 44 (1) of the Federal Nature Conservation Act, they are usually very cautious. Proceeding without permission and any other violation of these special protective regulations punishes the authority with rather severe fines.
However, there is one exception. Just be patient in late summer. In winter, the wasp population dies anyway. You can then easily remove an abandoned wasp nest in winter. The wasps will never colonize it again, but will build a new nest.
Wasp nest control by professionals
According to the above, the average normal citizen is dependent on the help of professionals when it comes to action against a wasp nest that is still inhabited. It doesn’t have to be as expensive as you might think. There are numerous volunteer wasp advisors who will be happy to advise you on how to deal with the nest. You can usually find a contact person in your region through your local nature conservation authority or your environmental protection agency.
The fire brigade, on the other hand, is only responsible for wasp nests if they surprisingly pose a threat to public safety and order. Since you will rarely be able to prove that at least a temporary evasion was not possible, there is always the risk that you may pay for the operation yourself if you call the fire brigade because of a wasp’s nest.
Of course, you can also hire a professional pest controller who is at least familiar with the species. Or should know. If in doubt, show a little distrust. If in doubt, you will pay the fine. You should also think along when assessing whether there is a reasonable reason. If the pest controller makes a completely wrong assessment in order to get the job, you are also liable as the contractor.
Conclusion
The removal of a wasp’s nest is far less often an issue than is generally assumed when considered soberly. If you know that you only have to keep the useful animals away from you for a fairly short time with all sorts of tricks until they finally give up their lives, you can usually live quite well with a wasp nest nearby. If you remain calm, the risk of a sting is negligible. There are several tricks to distract the wasps from their favorite spot in the garden.
