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Wasps: To Let Them Be or Eradicate

edhelkaedhelka GwyneddPosts: 2,267
in Wildlife gardening
I noticed I have a wasp nest in a birdhouse next to my shed. It is in a corner of my garden, not too bothering, and so far they were peaceful (maybe only because it's new and there isn't too many of them yet).
I know they are predators and can eat pest insect, I would love to see them eating aphids and similar stuff. But I am also afraid they could eat too much of beneficial insect, like ladybugs, or maybe even attack or scare pollinators and bees.
Do you think their overall impact is beneficial or harmful? Should I try to eradicate them or should I keep them as a part of a "balanced ecosystem"?

Posts

  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 8,876
    Totally beneficial. Just be thankful they don't ask the same questions about humans ;)
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 28,567
    Good guys and part of the cycle of life's rich tapestry.  Leave them alone. 
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 8,876
    Don't forget to clean the wasp nest out of the box over the winter. I had one in one of mine last year and it filled the whole box.

    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • edhelkaedhelka GwyneddPosts: 2,267
    OK, I will leave them.
    I know how annoying they can be but I am willing to give them a chance. As long as they don't try to eat my food and drink my beer when I am outside ;)
  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 21,140
    I don’t get much reaction from a wasp sting, just a red bump for a couple of days, but last year I had my first Bee sting, on my wrist, I swelled up from wrist to elbow for a week.
    I watched a wasp hoovering up greenfly on one of my pepper plants, quicker than I could have squashed them, so I leave any nests we have here. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • NollieNollie Girona, Catalunya, Northen Spain.Posts: 6,548
    Me too, Philippa, on the allergic front, I leave them alone, try and not get in their way and have plenty of fast-acting anti-histamines to hand. A couple of days ago we found some building a nest in an outside light and needed to change the lightbulb, so had to deal... suitably suited and booted, not allergic OH was sent up the ladder to eject it when they were busy elsewhere and the bulb changed pronto. 

    Unless they are causing a real nuisance, I would let them be, edhelka, they seem to be only interested in plant nectar and are useful pollinators... I have a very healthy population of bees of all species and they seem to co-exist happily. However, some parasitic wasps do inject other insects including ladybirds with their eggs, the larvae then eat the insect, but not sure if that type live in the UK...
  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 8,876
    philippa smith2 said:
    As Wild edges says, they could well be thinking the same about us - blasted humans taking over the world :D
    The ones moving my dad's shed into his loft mouthful by mouthful don't seem to mind the human help though.
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 21,140
    However, I did put a stop to this one that a dear wasp thought he’d build in our conservatory!  Stopped at just 1” across. 


    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • BenCottoBenCotto RutlandPosts: 4,049
    If you want to deter them hanging up a fake wasp’s nest will cause them to move on by a few yards. 
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