It’s the typical summer experience again this year: you sit unsuspectingly in the shade, want to bite into your well-deserved piece of cake, and then the visitation of the black and yellow tormentors begins. Wasps are booming again this summer. But what really helps?
By Rolf-Herbert Peters and Christoph Koch
It’s not exactly a joy to enjoy Rhenish Sauerbraten and “Hämchen” (Haxe) at Cologne’s Altermarkt this August. The air shimmers with heat. At the outside tables of the brewery, guests are constantly waving their arms wildly and twirling beer coasters back and forth. They don’t fan cool down. they fight back. Because they are constantly visited by wasps. The insects seem to like the succulent specialties even more than the guests themselves.