Big wasp survey

[Finman]

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I have noticed that amount follows the amount of main food, aphids.

If we are short of aphids, wasps, bumblebees or something, we get huge floats from Russia via warm air currents.

On another hand, I have not met many wasps in the city of Helsinki.

 

[Softley]

I agree with what you're saying, the timing of it seems wrong and there isn't enough monitoring to compensate. A lack of redundancy in their data! I can only think that they're wanting a snapshot of the wasps from around the country and they decided on the timing based on wasp life cycles over the last few years. I feel that what they get back in terms of samples will be skewed, if the lack of wasps in traps near me is anything to go by. Maybe we'll be hearing about 'the decline of the social wasp' when their findings are published.

This time last year wasps were robbing two of my colonies blind. This year is the complete opposite. It's been a strange year, everthing near me has been early and now the balsam seems to be lasting forever. The weather is still warm, if not sunny, and there's a lot of nectar coming in. Supers are still going on and there's lots of brood still being produced. Give it a few weeks and I'm sure the wasps will be knocking at the door.

If the wasp survey does nothing else, at least it helps raise awareness of their importance, albeit in a rather convoluted sort of way.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

On a side note....did I hear them say something about a black bee article on next weeks show?

Yes - it's about the Mount Edgcumbe bee sanctuary

 

[Karol]

I agree with what you're saying, the timing of it seems wrong and there isn't enough monitoring to compensate. A lack of redundancy in their data! I can only think that they're wanting a snapshot of the wasps from around the country and they decided on the timing based on wasp life cycles over the last few years. I feel that what they get back in terms of samples will be skewed, if the lack of wasps in traps near me is anything to go by. Maybe we'll be hearing about 'the decline of the social wasp' when their findings are published.

This time last year wasps were robbing two of my colonies blind. This year is the complete opposite. It's been a strange year, everthing near me has been early and now the balsam seems to be lasting forever. The weather is still warm, if not sunny, and there's a lot of nectar coming in. Supers are still going on and there's lots of brood still being produced. Give it a few weeks and I'm sure the wasps will be knocking at the door.

If the wasp survey does nothing else, at least it helps raise awareness of their importance, albeit in a rather convoluted sort of way.

When it comes to wasps then there isn't really a 'typical' wasp year - just years that vary from one to another based on a multitude of factors.

Warm wet summers tend to result in bigger wasp nests that mature later simply because of a greater abundance of grazing insect prey. When wasp nests mature feeding behaviour switches from hunting to sweet feeding. Hunting wasps are rarely 'visible' as they go about their business unless that is you happen to be a beekeeper and the wasps come to the hive to take insect prey/carrion which for the most part is beneficial because it helps remove diseased and weakened bees. Late maturing wasp nests do however represent a real threat to bee hives especially when other natural sources of sugar (fruit and late flowering plants) become exhausted leaving hives as one of the last remaining islands of sugar. So the moral here is to be on one's guard to avoid a late shock!

One factor that may have affected this year's wasp population is the amount of pre-emptive spring trapping that was done as a knee jerk reaction to the Velutina scare. That is purely conjecture mind you based on what I've seen and heard on various forums and out and about.