It’s dry in the Free State, especially in the north. This pleases the insects, which can get on your nerves in the beer garden or on the balcony. But you can also protect yourself without hurting the little animals.
Due to the dry weather, people in Bavaria could face an August full of wasps. “If it continues to have little rain, it will develop into a wasp year,” predicts insect expert Tarja Richter from the State Association for Bird Protection in Hilpoltstein, in central Franconia. A little rain is a good thing for the wasps.
This year’s wasp generation will reach its full size from August, explains the biologist. New queens and males are produced – accordingly, the colony needs a lot of food. Food that the wasps pick up at the garden party – whether cake, jam or cola.
The federal government recommends spraying wasps with atomized water. Then the wasp would fly back to its nest because it thought it was raining. Insect expert Richter also suggests a distraction: cut grape halves a few meters away, which the wasps could fly to. And even if the little animals can be annoying – biologist Richter reminds us how useful wasps can be. For the ecosystem, for example, because they pollinate crops and wildflowers. They also hunt the caterpillars of pests and sometimes catch annoying mosquitoes or flies.
There are several species of wasps in Germany, but only two of them are annoying to humans – the common wasp and the German wasp. Species such as the red wasp or the Saxon wasp are harmless to humans.