where are the wasps?

[Erichalfbee]

Aphids and honeydew?

 

[kazmcc]

Aphids and honeydew?

Well i thought they were hunting, but watched them for a good 5 mins and didn't see them do anything except sniff the leaves. They may have been catching something tiny though. They just swooped, landed, sniffed and took off again, just to repeat it. I would love to know what they were up to lol

 

[Karol]

Well i thought they were hunting, but watched them for a good 5 mins and didn't see them do anything except sniff the leaves. They may have been catching something tiny though. They just swooped, landed, sniffed and took off again, just to repeat it. I would love to know what they were up to lol

Could be a number of possibilities but the two most probable are:

a) sweet feeding on the sap from the willow (feeding characterised by a lapping motion of the probosis).

b) congregation point for mating swarm in which case the wasps may have been scenting sex pheromones marked on the willow.

 

[richardbees]

where are the wasps

Good question!
I was clearing prunings from under the plum trees next to my hives this afternoon and did notice the total absence of wasps, although there's loads of rotten fruit on the ground.

 

[Putnamsmif]

Isn't it something to do with the mild Winter? Contrary to popular belief cold winters are better for them as in mild Winters they emerge too early and there is less food and they have a longer period to feed their brood. I heard that on the BBC… it must be true.

 

[andycadman]

Who, what, why: Where are all the wasps?

Yes, it's on the BBC web site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23356578

 

[Dishmop]

where are the wasps?

not here.

Only seen about 3 all year..

 

[Karol]

Seeing lots of wasps - still hunting and nest building.

 

[user 6228]

seem to be going for dead thrown out of the hive at the moment...

 

[enrico]

Just been out to the garden to test out my new found bravery. There are hundreds of wasps on my willow, and I'm not exaggerating. Just stood under it watching them and they didn't bother me at all. I was trying to see what they are doing. They seem to be landing on the leaves and just sniffing them. I would love Karol's take on it.

Same here, thousands in a pine tree, and have been all summer, but no nest in it, and today they have all migrated to the willows. Luckily whatever it is is keeping them off my bees to any great extent. They are all over the ground under the pine too. You can hear them late into the evening and they are up before me in the morning!
E

 

[farbee]

I think they must of all been drowned back in the winter, rained quite hard around here.

We had quite a lot at the end of July/early August but since the huge down pours there numbers are really low. I was wandering if lots of nest were destroyed/severely set back by that.

 

[kazmcc]

Same here, thousands in a pine tree, and have been all summer, but no nest in it, and today they have all migrated to the willows. Luckily whatever it is is keeping them off my bees to any great extent. They are all over the ground under the pine too. You can hear them late into the evening and they are up before me in the morning!
E

I was wondering if they are using the willow bark to make nests, as they seemed to be doing the same thing on the branches too.

 

[Karol]

Possible but unlikely. Wasps prefer to take wood rather than bark. They may be taking resin. The way to tell is to watch their behaviour. Wasps use their mandibles to scrape wood and if you listen carefully you will hear the quite distinctive crunching/chewing sound they make. If they are sweet feeding off of the tree sap you will see them lapping with their quite proboscis which will dart forth and back a bit like a snake's tongue. Normally this is associated with a heavy aphid infestation. The wasps don't hunt/eat the aphids, they just milk them and protect them from other predators. If the wasps are mating/breeding you will see them using their antennae to pick out the scent of potential mates.

 

[kazmcc]

Possible but unlikely. Wasps prefer to take wood rather than bark. They may be taking resin. The way to tell is to watch their behaviour. Wasps use their mandibles to scrape wood and if you listen carefully you will hear the quite distinctive crunching/chewing sound they make. If they are sweet feeding off of the tree sap you will see them lapping with their quite proboscis which will dart forth and back a bit like a snake's tongue. Normally this is associated with a heavy aphid infestation. The wasps don't hunt/eat the aphids, they just milk them and protect them from other predators. If the wasps are mating/breeding you will see them using their antennae to pick out the scent of potential mates.

*off to have another look*

 

[Karol]

Wasps around my way are still hunting and still nest building. The fence I recently installed is latticed with their handiwork.

 

[kazmcc]

Wasps around my way are still hunting and still nest building. The fence I recently installed is latticed with their handiwork.

Is it unusual for them to still be insect feeding this late? I think I read somewhere they can still be insect feeding as late as November, am I right?

 

[Karol]

Is it unusual for them to still be insect feeding this late? I think I read somewhere they can still be insect feeding as late as November, am I right?

Not at all unusual and yes it can be as late as November. There are two things to appreciate with the late maturation of wasp nests. The first is that it can catch out unsuspecting beekeepers who then lose hives to wasps late in the season. The second is that late maturation means that queen wasps have a shorter period to survive before they establish their colonies the following year so far more of them survive. Combine late maturation with a harsh long winter and you get conditions ripe for a wasp plague the following year.