Giant ticks, poisonous caterpillars and now wasps… According to Martijn Wijbenga, director of De Bestrijdingsbrigade, a national pest control and prevention company, about 6.000 people contacted his company in July concerning wasp nests.
The weather can affect the number of wasp nests, as well as their growth and development. In recent years, the Netherlands has experienced two extremely warm and dry summers (for this country) in a row and a rather mild winter too. This means the wasps were quickly able to procreate and the lack of persistent freezing cold means most of them have survived the winter.
“Last year, we removed around 130 wasp nests per day. Currently, we are removing around 200 nests a day”, Wijbenga tells AD. And the worst is yet to come, as August is usually the month in which wasps can cause a lot of trouble. “The requests keep pouring in. And this is just the beginning. In the coming weeks, wasps will abandon their nests en masse.”
Insect expert Marcel Dicke from Wageningen University has a few handy tips for dealing with aggressive wasps buzzing around in your garden. First off, don't swat at them, this will just make them angry. "Simply distract them with rotten fruit. They love rotten fruit, so they will leave you be", says Dicke. Another tip from the expert: use a drinking glass to trap the wasp (temporarily). When you go back inside, set it free.