Wasps!

Wasp pests are out in force on Rakino right now, and they’re a menace that needs to be dealt to. We have at least four pest varieties; the Asian paper wasp, the Australian paper wasp, the common wasp, and the German wasp. The paper wasp varieties are easily dealt with by assiduous application of large quantities of common fly spray directed at the nest; dusk is the best time as they will be back in their cells.

The common and German wasps are a more aggressive and trickier proposition, as the threat of being stung is reasonably high, especially if you inadvertently stumble into a nest. They appear to currently be in a protein eating phase, as we observed them swarming over fish remains this weekend. This is good, as it means wasp bait can be safely placed in traps on tinned fish or jellimeat, which won’t be attractive to our birds. As you can see from the link below, they are potentially a real problem for our native critters, as well as any human that encounters a wasp nest.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/animal-pests/wasps/

The good news is that Josh McCann is an accredited Vespex user, and we have Vespex on Rakino. I understand he’s been out today murdering angry wasps, and there have been reports of a number of nests. If you find a large number of foraging wasps that you’re concerned about, he’s happy to be death-bringer to the stingers. Apparently they don’t forage close to the nest, but if bait is laid where they are feeding, they will carry it home and feed it to their waspish friends and family.

The next four weeks is critical hit time on these beasties, so it would be most efficacious if all sightings could be notified. Josh would like to be able to do a site map, and attack them in one big hit. Please report all sightings, so bait can be laid where the densest concentrations are.

You can call round and see him, or email him at nzjmccann@gmail.com

To find out more about Vespex, check out this link..

https://www.merchento.com/index.html