As the saying goes - if you don't have enough money for the South Seas, you just have a staycation. Stupid only when hordes of wasps join you for breakfast in the sun. There are a few tricks to getting along with the animals, and there are a few rules of conduct that must be followed.
Burning ground coffee keeps mosquitoes and wasps away
When wasps only bother you when sunbathing
It is one thing that individual wasps buzzing around on the balcony box in search of flower nectar and can worry you when you are relaxing in the sun. Anyone who has a strong aversion to the tabby insects can of course be adversely affected by such a little animal. What should be avoided, however, is the following:
- Panic waving
- blow away
- Slay
Wasps perceive wild movements very intensively with their complex eyes and are put on alert - although they were probably completely relaxed before. Panic behavior first draws their attention to the person lying in the deck chair and increases the risk that they will defend themselves against the waving around.
Blowing away has a similar effect. Wasps perceive the escaping carbon dioxide as a warning signal and then also sting faster.
If you simply kill a wasp, you are making yourself a criminal offense under nature conservation law, and you may also attract other wasps. Because a dying wasp emits pheromones, messenger substances that conspecifics perceive from afar.
Recommended tools and behaviors
Wasps react quite clearly to smells thanks to their fine sense of smell. To keep wasps away, you can equip your balcony with ethereal-scented plants, for example. What wasps find very repulsive, for example, is the smell of lavender, basil or lemon verbena. You yourself benefit from the herbs in the kitchen and for the ambience on the balcony. The frankincense plant also keeps wasps and mosquitoes away - but their smell is too strong for some people.
During the meal
Keeping wasps away becomes more difficult if you are having breakfast on the balcony or enjoying coffee and cake. The tempting scents of jam or sugar icing make wasps forget the smell of a whole lavender frame on the balcony railing. In this case, unfortunately, only one thing is of use: cover the food consistently so that the scent molecules don't get into the air in the first place.