Wasps and bumblebees are very annoying guests for a garden, their massive presence can compromise relaxation and tranquility in the life of the green area, especially for those who are allergic to stings. Its presence is spreading throughout Italy and is encouraged by the ripening of fruit trees.
In the orchard, wasps cause damage to most crops, especially they like sweeter fruits like pears and figs as they seek out the sugars present in ripe fruit. On the one hand, they tear the pulp of the fruit by their action, damaging it and causing it to rot, on the other hand they represent a nuisance for those who risk being bitten during the harvest. We have already analyzed the damage caused by wasps and hornets in a dedicated article.
To remedy the presence of these Hymenoptera insects in organic farming, without running the risk of killing bees and other non-pest insects, we should focus on prevention let’s find out how we can achieve this and when it is appropriate to establish countermeasures.
Contents [Ocultar]
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Know the wasps to prevent them
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traps or insecticides
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Intervene at the right time
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how to cheat
Contents
Know the wasps to prevent them
Wasps, like many other insects, hibernate in the shelter and they come out into the environment with the arrival of spring . Your community has a fairly complex social organization, the impregnated queen founded a colony after winter, forming the nest. The colony has a variable number of workers and expands in the spring to reach its peak in the summer. The queen secretes a hormone which renders the workers sterile, stops doing so with the arrival of autumn and the males will fertilize the new queens the following year.
The wasp feeds sugary substances and proteins, it feeds on other insects, and in this it acts as a useful insect, but it also and above all sucks the sugars from the vegetable and fruit tissues, damaging the harvest. The bees they’re not just pests : with their passage, they can pollinate and can attack garden and orchard pests. Their presence is in most cases harmless to humans, one should not be obsessed with their extermination at all costs.
However they must be prevented from forming nests in busy, inhabited areas, as they are not always peaceful insects and many people today have even severe allergy problems to their bites. If you have fruit trees, it is good to avoid a mass installation of wasps in the surroundings. In areas where the presence of wasps would be a problem, it is advisable to intervene early, without waiting to face a large and established colony. This makes it possible to intervene with natural methods that have no impact on the environment.
traps or insecticides
To eliminate wasps, you can use insecticides or you can point to traps for their mass capture .
The use of insecticidal substances, if carried out in an “aggressive” way, allows the extermination of a good number of individuals quite quickly, but it has certain contraindications that must be taken into account. Although there are treatments of natural origin, authorized in organic farming (azadirachtin, spinosad, pyrethrins), it is always non-selective products , which in addition to wasps could kill beneficial insects. Chemicals are much more effective against wasps, but cause even more damage and pollution often persistent in the environment.
the food trap it is rather a decidedly more ecological system , since it is achieved by creating attractive baits for the wasp, which forgive other insects. The effectiveness of this method is proven, as long as it is used as a preventive measure and not as an intervention in response to a massive presence of the insect.
Intervene at the right time
We saw how important is a queen when the colony of wasps starts, we feel the importance of acting at the right time. In the spring, it suffices to intercept a queen to cause the rearing which leads to the formation of a colony to fail, whereas the summer captures are linked to simple workers. Just know that a queen can also spawn 500 wasps understand that catching one before breeding is a huge success.
Especially in the garden set traps before fruit is available means giving the bait maximum efficiency. Waiting for the fruit to ripen will be just one of many sweet foods available in the environment.
Therefore, the advice is to lay the traps between late February and early March even if few will be captured in the first weeks, it is essential to capture the first individuals that emerge after winter.
how to cheat
We have often explained the Tap Trap in Orto Da Coltivare, since it is a very useful method in the organic garden, capable of dealing with different threats. For those who want to better understand the characteristics, we refer to the article dedicated to the Tap Trap, or even the similar Vaso Trap, which differs due to the container.
The use of wasp traps involves hanging a tap trap with bait , in the canopy of fruit plants. The area to be protected should be equipped with an adequate number of traps, it may also be a good idea to ‘lend’ bottle traps to neighbors to increase coverage.
Once the traps are placed, they should be checked periodically. and replace the attractor so that the protection is always active. It is better to keep every two or three weeks .
wasp bait
To catch wasps with the food trap, it is best to prepare a sugar-based bait. We propose three possible recipes you can choose which cocktail to offer the Hymenoptera.
- Beer and Honey . 350 ml beer, with honey or sugar, about 2 tbsp.
- The vinegar . 200 ml of water, a glass of red wine vinegar, honey or sugar, about 2 tablespoons.
- syrups : 350 ml white wine, possibly sweet, otherwise add sugar, 25 ml syrup (e.g. mint syrup)