Earth wasps can become a real problem once they have chosen a garden for their nest. After all, the yellow-black stinging insects are not cuddly toys. In such a case, a fine balance must be found between combating and tolerating.
Earth wasps are not dangerous in themselves, but they are often annoying
When a ground wasp nest in the garden becomes critical
In our latitudes, earth wasps are usually German or common wasps that have chosen a place in the earth to found their colony. This can be an abandoned mouse or mole burrow, for example. In principle, the wasp species mentioned can also use higher places such as roof structures or garage niches for nest building.
Of course, having a whole wasp colony in the garden can be problematic. In late summer, a wasp community grows to around 7000 animals, many of which swarm out every day to search for food.
Whether you want to get involved in a clear fight should be weighed up well in advance. There are a few reasons against it:
- Wasps are protected and cannot be readily fought
- Control is dangerous and not necessarily animal friendly
- Wasp State only lasts for a limited time anyway
wasp control
Wasps are protected
First of all, it is important to know that under the Federal Nature Conservation Act, the willful impairment or killing of wasps is a punishable offense. However, under certain circumstances, such as an existing insect venom allergy or small children living in the household, control can be approved individually.
If possible, do not carry out wasp control yourself
Even if the nature conservation authorities justify wasp control in your case, you should not take the appropriate measures yourself. It takes some experience with the animals and, of course, professional equipment to get the whole thing over with as little damage as possible. A beekeeper or an expert from nature conservation organizations can also better assess the situation and derive suitable options from it.
The gentlest method that specialists use to remove wasps is nest relocation. For this purpose, the animals are first put into a twilight state with an animal-friendly agent so that they do not get too stressed and understandably become aggressive. Then they are sucked out alive so that the nest can be carefully dismantled. It will be set up again 3-4 kilometers away and the animals will be resettled. From this distance, they can no longer find their way back to their original location.
Passive Eviction Methods
When dealing with wasps, a calm, passive demeanor is generally wise. If wasps have nested in you, you should therefore tolerate them as far as possible and rely on gentle expulsion measures.
Gentle and completely safe options are strong-smelling plants that smell bad to wasps, such as basil, lavender, lemon verbena, or frankincense. Rubbing garden furniture with lemongrass oil can also help. When eating at the garden table, the most important, albeit annoying, measure is not to let tempting scent molecules get into the air by consistently covering the food.