Gardenbees
Field Bee
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Messages
- 568
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Gloucestershire
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 3
I found some median wasps feeding on cotoneaster nectar! They're quite a bit bigger than common or German wasps, but not quite as big as hornets. They are variable, but often have a lot of black, with just thin yellow stripes. They also have a yellow "7" shape on their shoulder. They aren't really "newcomers" - as far as I know, they have been living in the UK since about 1980. There are one or two other interesting new wasps about too: e.g. tree wasps, Saxon wasps and red wasps.
Median wasp adults mostly feed on nectar, so I suppose they could be considered competitors with honeybees (although their nests aren't really that big). They also take insect prey, presumably including bees, to feed their queen. But mostly they seem to stick to nectar. Apparently they're quite good pollinators.
The ones I was looking at were very calm, but I gather that they will defend their nests fairly meaningfully if under threat. The nests are a bit rounder than a normal wasp's nest, grey, papery, and about the size of a small football - so gardeners need to watch out if they come across one when pruning a hedge etc. The ones I saw had a nest in a shrub about three feet away
eek:which I noticed, with some alarm, only as I was walking away!). They weren't reacting at all, so you'd probably have to rattle them quite hard to get stung... not something I'd like to risk, though, given their size!
Personally I think they're very smart-looking and rather special - and the queens are something else, huge and very impressive! I don't think they're much of a threat to beekeeping, but having said that, does anyone have any experience of unusual wasps attacking their bees?
Median wasp adults mostly feed on nectar, so I suppose they could be considered competitors with honeybees (although their nests aren't really that big). They also take insect prey, presumably including bees, to feed their queen. But mostly they seem to stick to nectar. Apparently they're quite good pollinators.
The ones I was looking at were very calm, but I gather that they will defend their nests fairly meaningfully if under threat. The nests are a bit rounder than a normal wasp's nest, grey, papery, and about the size of a small football - so gardeners need to watch out if they come across one when pruning a hedge etc. The ones I saw had a nest in a shrub about three feet away
eek:which I noticed, with some alarm, only as I was walking away!). They weren't reacting at all, so you'd probably have to rattle them quite hard to get stung... not something I'd like to risk, though, given their size! Personally I think they're very smart-looking and rather special - and the queens are something else, huge and very impressive! I don't think they're much of a threat to beekeeping, but having said that, does anyone have any experience of unusual wasps attacking their bees?
oops - that didn't make you feel better!
