Fortunately, many gardeners take note of insect deaths and counteract it with insect hotels in their own gardens, for example. It is not just the animals that benefit from such initiatives, the keeper can also pursue a task and enjoy observing the hustle and bustle. Most of the time, however, he does not notice much of the brood. It is all the more interesting when the hatched wasps leave their nest. Anyone who knows the exact time when various species fled from their nests will certainly not miss the spectacle. The only question is whether the gardener can also speed up the exit.
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The wasp year at a glance
Why do wasps leave their homes in the first place? This behavior becomes clear when the gardener deals with the life cycle of insects:
Leaving the nest represents the end of a wasp’s life. In Europe, the animals do not survive the cold winter. The only exception is the young queens, although it is estimated that the majority of them fall victim to the freezing temperatures. These can still be mated by the males in autumn. While they hibernate in a state of rigidity, they store the seeds in endogenous pockets.
did you know, that
… solitary wasps overwinter as so-called resting larvae. In poor climatic conditions, they even remain in this state for a whole year. It can therefore happen that they do not leave their nest at the usual time.
When the temperatures rise in the following spring, the young queens start building their nests.
In the meantime, the young queens have grown into adult wasps that are able to found their own colony. To do this, they lay the overwintered eggs in the nest cells.
The queens also take care of the supply themselves in April and May. Prey such as spiders and other insects paralyze them with their venom and deposit them in the nest. The later hatching brood feeds on the dead animals. These quickly mature into workers. The queen can now concentrate solely on laying eggs.
In June there is a lot of activity in the garden for the first time. At this time, the workers gather food to feed the next generation. Finally, in August, drone breeding and the rearing of new young queens begins, which will ensure continued existence for the next year. Because only a few weeks later the old queen dies. At this time in late summer, a colony of wasps can contain up to 1200 insects . However, if the animals lose their queen, the regular coexistence gets messed up. Since only the head lays eggs, the workers lack brood to care for. Because they no longer have a task, they too swarm out. Now the wasps are extremely aggressive. After all, they are on their own, which means a big change.
Once wasps leave their nest, they never return the following year. If the construction is in an unfavorable place, the gardener can now remove the abandoned site without hesitation.
Differences due to different species
However, in order to set the right date for removing a wasp nest, it is important to know what type of wasp it is. If there are still insects in the breeding ground, there is a risk of painful stings on the one hand, and the gardener will be liable to prosecution on the other. Two types exist in Europe:
- early dispersing wasp colonies
- late dissolving wasp colonies
On the one hand, the species of animal decides when to turn their backs on their home. The temperatures also play an important role. An early autumn onset may speed up the trip. Since night frosts form earlier near the mountains than in the lowlands, the insects in southern Germany usually swarm out earlier.
Early resolving wasp species
The early dissolving peoples include a total of twelve native genera:
- Mountain paper wasp (Polistes biglumis)
- Mountain paper wasp cuckoo wasp (Polistes atrimandibularis)
- Falsche Kuckuckswespe (Dolichovespula adulterina)
- House wasp (Polistes dominula)
- Heath paper wasp (Polistes nimpha)
- Median wasp (Dolichovespula media)
- Norwegian wasp (Dolichovespula norwegica)
- Austrian cuckoo wasp (Vespula austriaca)
- Rote Wespe (Vespula rufa)
- Saxophone Wespe (Dolichovespula saxonica)
- Waldwespe (Dolichovespula sylvestris)
- Dainty paper wasp (Polistes bischoffi)
Early dissolving wasp species do not like cold temperatures. The queen is already leaving her state in mid-August. In order for mating to take place in good time before the onset of the first frosts, the young queens raised follow their example in the first week of September. Since the workers no longer have to take care of the brood, they swarm out around mid-September.
Late-dissolving wasp species
The late-dissolving colonies in this country include far fewer species, namely the following four:
- Asian hornet (Vespa velutina var. nigrithorax)
- German wasp (Vespula germanica)
- Common wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
- Hornisse (Vespa crabro)
Although these wasp colonies are in the minority compared to the early-dissolving genera, people perceive them more intensely. This is because German and common wasps are interested in food in addition to nectar, and their habitat therefore overlaps with that of humans. They are relatively resistant to cold temperatures. Thus it sometimes lasts until October before the Queen leaves her state. The young queens follow about two weeks later.
Note: Contrary to what many people think, most of the many wasp species living in Europe are peaceful. Only the common wasp and the German wasp fly to flowers as well as food such as meat and ripe fruit. Nevertheless, there is hardly any danger from these varieties. The insects only sting when they feel threatened.
Lure wasps out of the nest?
Is the wasp ‘s nestin a very unfavorable place, for example directly at a window or above a house entrance, many a gardener wonders whether he can speed up the trip. The text above shows that late-dissolving colonies can hardly be lured out of their nests, since cold temperatures cannot harm them. Although colonies that dissolve early react to a sudden cold snap, this is quite difficult to simulate. For the welfare of the animals, the gardener should not try to rush the trip. It should be noted in particular that an abrupt change in temperature disrupts the biorhythms of insects. If this is not even caused by natural causes, but is caused by deliberate human intervention, the animals may not be able to cope with their situation. Increased wasp mortality occurs. Given the usefulness of insects, that would be a great loss to nature.
The gardener should never try to lure the animals out of the nest with fire or by shaking them. The insects react extremely aggressively to such measures. Ultimately, the wasps will not leave their nest after successfully defending themselves.
