Where are the wasps?

[JIM HINSHELWOOD]

same up here in NE Scotland, wasps were around in May but nothing now. Also no ladybirds this year !!

 

[Buzzo]

lots of hornets . counted more queen wasps than worker wasps.

 

[BitterleyBee]

South Shropshire, several hornets early on. Virtually no wasps. I’ve even left a small wasps nest in the garden I would normally have destroyed.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

jinxed it OP

walked to a small out apiary yesterday and first hive had multiple wasps entering, closed up entrance etc

 

[Amari]

Maybe the wasp scarcity is because the Qs were all caught in Gard'apis?
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/asian-hornet-trap-bycatch.57038/#post-908105

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Maybe the wasp scarcity is because the Qs were all caught in Gard'apis?
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/asian-hornet-trap-bycatch.57038/#post-908105

i certainly think we must be losing lots of european hornets given number of people i have heard saying they have squashed them (assuming they were asian)

 

[Erichalfbee]

i certainly think we must be losing lots of european hornets given number of people i have heard saying they have squashed them (assuming they were asian)

Depressing isn’t it?

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Depressing isn’t it?

yes....i fear already depleted numbers have had a major set back

 

[Swarm]

In fairness, I've seen more Hornets in the last couple of years than ever. We've had Hornets in the garden for the last three years, previous thirty odd years we had none.
Likewise at the farm, plenty of Hornets there.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I feel their range might have simply increased as the weather patterns changed. I'm certainly seeing more than say ten years ago.
I put a hornet box up but the squirrels chewed the hole bigger and moved in. Next year there will be a metal plate to guard the entrance

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I put a hornet box up but the squirrels chewed the hole bigger and moved in. Next year there will be a metal plate to guard the entrance

invest in a decent air rifle

 

[Erichalfbee]

invest in a decent air rifle

We trap them.

 

[Ely]

We trap them.

Squirrel burgers? Elvis loved them apparently. Didn't do him any harm

 

[Erichalfbee]

Squirrel burgers? Elvis loved them apparently. Didn't do him any harm

The buzzards get them
I have eaten squirrel pie. Not foraged but bought at a food fair.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I hadn’t seen any wasps until today but as I was hanging my bee jacket in the back of my van I noticed what I thought was a bee on the back of it but on closer inspection it was a wasp!

 

[Parsonage Bees]

invest in a decent air rifle

Been thinking of using it to take out a few pigeons. Lots of them this year.

We trap them.

Trap 'em. Shoot 'em with the air rifle. Most humane way to do it.

Squirrel burgers?

Squirrel ragu, my favourite.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Trap 'em. Shoot 'em with the air rifle. Most humane way to do it.

Into a sac out of the trap and a sharp blow to the head.

 

[Paulypaul]

Into a sac out of the trap and a sharp blow to the head.

That's how I do it. But it's easier said than done. Bit of a scramble getting them into the sack the first few times.

Also, you can't see their head in the sack, so I push them to the bottom of the sack with my foot, and a smash with a hammer ends it.
Unpleasant, but instant.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Saw a bumble bee for the first time in a while yesterday. Left a couple of vicious thistles for them but getting little interest.

Thinking, I haven't seen a squirrel for a few weeks now either.
Maybe someone got hungry!!

 

[rossbyjove]

Squirrel burgers? Elvis loved them apparently. Didn't do him any harm

Earen squirrel a number of times.
Delicious.