Wasps: why they pounce on plum datchi - and how to drive them away

Created: 08/11/2022, 14:56

By: Dominik Stallein

Wasps are nuisances, right?

Conservationist Friedl Krönauer gives tips - and explains why the animals are important.

© Bernd Feil /MiS

Conservationist Friedl Krönauer explains about wasps: The animals are protected species.

There are a lot of them this year - it's good for nature.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen - It's a noise that can ruin everything: Breakfast on the balcony or a nice barbecue evening with friends - as soon as the buzzing of the wasps starts, the summer joys are over.

Friedl Krönauer, head of the Bund Naturschutz in the district, knows why there are so many wasps this year - and how best to keep them away.

Are there really more wasps than usual?

Some people get that impression every year.

"This year it's actually true," says Friedl Krönauer.

The reason: The spring was relatively dry, "so a large part of the brood survived".

If you want to get something positive out of the whole thing: "After all, there are fewer mosquitoes." They like it rather wet and cold at the beginning of the year.

Why do wasps pounce on food?

The answer is simple: because they eat.

Sweets and meat dishes in particular are very popular with wasps that eat consciously.

According to Krönauer, the big buzzing at the dining table begins when the wasps have already fed their offspring, i.e. towards the end of July or beginning of August.

"Unfortunately, that falls right into the plum season," says the Bund Nature Conservation boss.

The young animals are nursed with an insect mixture.

Adult wasps mainly eat sugar and proteins - and these are particularly found in the foods mentioned.

Friedl Krönauer, Chairman of the Federation of Nature Conservation in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen © Private

Are wasp stings dangerous?

The animals are only really risky for allergy sufferers: "An anaphylactic shock can be dangerous." According to Krönauer, this would be noticed quickly - for example by dizziness, vomiting or shortness of breath.

"Allergy sufferers should have emergency kits such as an adrenaline injection ready to hand." The BN chairman recommends cooling stitches in the mouth and throat so that the swelling goes down.

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What can you do about a wasp sting?

"A wasp sting hurts - and nobody wants it": There is probably no contradiction to this statement by Krönauer.

In the past, people were advised to suck the poison out with their mouths, but today we know: "You shouldn't do that, because otherwise the mucous membranes could come into contact with the poison." The environmentalist knows a better way of preventing the spread of the wasp poison in the to stop the body: there are small, electric tools for smartphones that you press against the puncture site.

"They heat up to around 50 degrees and ensure that the poison doesn't spread any further." According to the manufacturer, these sting healers could also "reduce symptoms such as itching and pain in a matter of seconds" - Krönauer also sees a psychological effect with such a treatment, for example children are bitten: "For them it is important

How to keep wasps away

According to Krönauer, hectic is a competitive disadvantage in the fight between man and wasp: "In the end you just touch them and you get stung." You shouldn't blow on the insects either - the CO2 from their breath makes the animals aggressive.

Krönauer recommends opening a "secondary theater of war": that is, serving up a wasp feast, for example with jam or grapes, at a sufficient distance from one's own food.

If it's too late for that because the animals are already preparing for the picnic, Krönauer knows a trick to drive them away: "If you light a bit of ground coffee on a saucer, a smoke develops that the animals don't like." Just as reliably water from a spray bottle helps: "Then they sneak back into their burrow pretty quickly."

You can read all the news from Wolfratshausen here.

How do I remove a wasp nest?

"Not at all - that's forbidden." Krönauer's answer is unequivocal.

Homeowners who find a nest should report it to the Lower Nature Conservation Authority.

In individual, particularly urgent cases - a colony of wasps in the children's room, for example - a solution can be found in which the animals are not harmed.

Everything else is simply not allowed because wasps (like the much more popular bees) are protected species.

The nests can be removed especially between autumn and April, when the shelters are uninhabited.

"They'll look for another place to stay next year anyway," says Krönauer.

What do wasps bring to nature?

You may not like to hear it, but: wasps take on important tasks in the ecosystem.

On the one hand, they contribute to the pollination of plants – just like bees do.

On the other hand, they perform a service that even provides relaxation during a summer barbecue: wasps eat smaller insects such as flies and mosquitoes, but also aphids and small caterpillars, which, according to Krönauer, enables certain plants to survive.

"Wasps are actually valuable," says the BN boss.

"We just have to get through the few annoying weeks."