Where have all the wasps gone

[Red17]

Definitely fewer wasps around our fruit trees this year.

I've linked this survey before which we have contributed to for the last few years

https://www.bigwaspsurvey.org/

 

[ColinJ]

Wasp numbers seem to have declined incredibly since I was a child. I was stung many times*** one day as a small boy and consequently developed a fear of them which lasted well into my 20s. I was plagued by them virtually every summer day for decades. Nowadays I probably only see about 10 a year!

*** Probably stung 50+ times in 10 or 15 seconds... Messing about poking sticks and chucking stones at wasp nests is not the safest game for small boys to play!!

 

[tyred]

Wasp numbers seem to have declined incredibly since I was a child. I was stung many times*** one day as a small boy and consequently developed a fear of them which lasted well into my 20s. I was plagued by them virtually every summer day for decades. Nowadays I probably only see about 10 a year!

*** Probably stung 50+ times in 10 or 15 seconds... Messing about poking sticks and chucking stones at wasp nests is not the safest game for small boys to play!!

When I was maybe 5 years old, I disturbed a wasps nest and ended up with wasps up my t shirt and stung all over the place. I have always been wary of them since.

There seemed to be no shortage of them in Connemara a few weeks ago when I ate outside at a café and had to keep my hand over my glass of Coke.

 

[craigwend]

Still having to work due to the pension changes...

 

[ColinJ]

Still having to work due to the pension changes...

You, or the wasps?

 

[raleighnut]

Very few wasps on our Ivy this year as its flowering. Didn't see many Hover flies on the privet flowers either but quite a few 'Solitary Bees' on the Broom bush and Brambles with quite a few Bees on the Woodbine/Honeysuckles (all in our garden)
Been a good year for our Sparrows but we keep the numbers artificially high by providing Seed and Suet Blocks all year round and often see a dozen or more diving out of the shrubbery onto the Fountain to drink/bathe

 

[Accy cyclist]

I gauge insect and bird/wildlife numbers on my walks in the local cemetery which is surrounded by green hills and fields. This spring/summer I saw a mere 2 bees on the flowers in the cemetery and not one rabbit, though I haven't seen one in there since the local council had them illegally eradicated about 7 years ago. As for the wasps, I've seen 3 this year, and thankfully I didn't have to 'wasp spray' any, as the 2 in my flat flew out an open window and the other one was buzzing round my head, but flew off after a few seconds.

 

[HMS_Dave]

Count one less wasp from last week when i was sitting there, minding my own business and it crawled into the slightly opened window and started buzzing around my face. I'm afraid i had to teach him the ultimate lesson that his stinger vs magazine is no match...

 

[PaulSB]

The wasp decline, along with many other insects, became very noticeable 6 - 7 years ago. There's been a 60% decline in the flying insect population since 2001.

This decline in insect life and the many creatures which rely on them as a food source has been very obvious for several years. That the general public now notice it is a strong indicator of just how serious the situation has become.

Man's impact on the planet increases with every year that goes by. We destroy a little more every year. Unless we all sit up and take notice the consequences will be severe. Nature is very resilient and can still recover but we have to help her.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

I remember seeing a sign tacked to a telegraph pole on my usual circuit saying "Wasps Exterminated - £25".

I took a marker pen with me the next day and added - "Each"

 

[FrankCrank]

No shortage of mud wasps over this way

They seem to appear in all sorts of nooks and crannies. Don't mind them really, they're pretty docile, just go about their business making mud nests and getting ready for the next generation.

We have a friend here who produces his own honey, experimenting with different types of bees. Early on he learned a valuable lesson however, and ended up with so many stings during an attack he ended up in hospital.

If it can bite or sting, show it great respect.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Reports of The End Of The World are somewhat exaggerated. Very fashionable though.

The world won't end, but we might.
Sarah Teasdale wrote:


" There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white,
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone."

 

[BrumJim]

Paging @waspyfecker ! Any clues?

 

[oldwheels]

I have noticed a marked decline in bird numbers and also variety of birds. Nothing around but house sparrows and for sand martins, no swallows and not the usual water birds on the lochs.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Heaps of birds here in S E Lakes.

Very few wasps this year, ditto spiders and huge, long fat slugs.

Maybe all the rain this year has affected them?

All the spiders are in our house with the slugs in the garden.