Distinguishing earth wasps from earth bees
The term “earth wasps” is not a zoological species name, but a popular name for wasps that nest in the ground. Species that do this are the common and German wasp. However, some wild bee species, such as sand bees, also nest in the ground. Before you want to get rid of a nest of striped bugs in the garden, clear identification is necessary. Because earth bees are strictly protected and must not be fought. Willful killing, injuring and damaging the nests could result in high fines.
also read
- When and how can earth wasps be removed?
- What to do with earth wasps in the garden?
- Are earth wasps under nature protection?
Wasps are also under protection, but their regulations are not quite as rigid. According to the catalog of fines, killing, injuring and disrupting resting places are only penalized if there is no reasonable reason for it. Whether a reason is reasonable is always assessed individually - possible reasons can be an allergy or small children living in the house.
Overall, however, the following applies: Wasps can be a nuisance and, if the nest is critically close to the living area, can also be dangerous. Nevertheless, the animals are generally peaceful and also useful and worth protecting, among other things because they destroy pests. You should therefore rely on gentle eviction measures.
To note:
- Make sure they are earth wasps before evacuating them
- Carefully drive away beneficial insects
How to drive away earth wasps?
First: home remedies
As long as the wasps only come to the patio table and become annoying beneficiaries there, you should limit yourself to simple home remedies. First of all, this includes staying calm and not waving around. That only makes the animals aggressive and eager to sting. The easiest way is to set up a bowl with sugar water or some boiled ham and put a glass over the settling wasp (s) for mealtime. Then release them again.
Nests can only be removed by specialists
In order to shut down an entire nest, you should urgently consult a specialist. First of all, as mentioned above, you can easily punish yourself if you lend a hand. On the other hand, it requires a lot of experience in dealing with the biting insects in order to safely shut down a nest with around 7000 animals.
How the beekeeper or nature conservation specialist removes the nest depends on the individual situation. Depending on the location and accessibility of the nest, various methods are possible, such as foaming with a substance that is lethal for the animals.
In individual cases, a wasp's nest can also be relocated by sucking off the animals and dismantling and rebuilding the honeycomb structure. However, this is quite time-consuming and, given the short wasp generation time of just one summer, usually not worthwhile.
Amicable agreement?
When in doubt, you should consider whether you cannot make friends with the insects, which are peaceful and useful in themselves. To protect yourself and children, the area around the nest can also simply be cordoned off. So both parties have some peace and quiet.
