The most beautiful barbecue is useless if 20 wasps are buzzing around the steak. Unfortunately, many false home remedies exist on the subject of driving away wasps. What really helps and what are just fairy tales, you can read here.
The fear of wasps is actually unfounded. If they bother us, they just want a piece of the food. Nevertheless, most people panic when they see one. They want to drive the wasps away, and preferably immediately. But the insects are not aggressive at all.
So if you are not exactly allergic, there is no obstacle to peaceful coexistence. And with our tips, it works even better, because you can naturally keep the wasps away from the terrace.
The poor wasp is completely underestimated. Many persistent untruths exist about the basically useful animal.
Table of contents
Which species of wasp makes our lives miserable?
What few people know. There are 8 species of native wasps and only two "collide" with people.
The German wasp and the common wasp are the only species that like sweets or sausage. All the others find flowers more interesting and are therefore important pollinators of fruit trees and the like.
When are there the most wasps?
The months in which the most wasps buzz around us are July and August. That's when the wasp colonies are the largest and the brood needs to be taken care of. In August they don't have to worry so much about the offspring. So the older wasps start to fill up their own tank.
And the best way to do that is at our cake buffet. But they are not looking for a fight, they just want to eat some sugar.
Exciting wasps facts
They live in states of thousands and engage in intensive brood care. Above all, they feed on sweets. Only the larvae actually need protein-rich food. So for the little ones, the wasps attack flies, mosquitoes or steal a piece of ham from the breakfast table.
Unlike bees, wasps do not alert their conspecifics to great food sources. More wasps are only summoned in dangerous situations.
Wasps do not die after a sting (unlike bees). They need their sting to overpower feeding victims or to defend themselves. The sting reflex can even be present in insects that have just died, so be careful!
Fly plague? This helps against the uninvited guests!
Myths about driving away wasps
The Internet, as always, knows a lot. But whether the home remedies for driving away wasps also help? Some do, but most are quite useless.
1. copper coins against wasps
The coins should be rubbed between the fingers and then spread around the table to keep the wasps away. The smell of the copper should keep the pests away.
It does not quite work in the self-test. The wasps in our garden are not impressed. You can try it, but I'm not so convinced of the trick against wasps.
2. one lemon with cloves against wasps
A larded lemon at the table is considered a good defense against wasps.
It is true that the insects have something against citrus scent but the wasps can be driven away with a small lemon rather not. The hungry animals tend to ignore the annoying smell.
3. hang a pseudo wasp nest, to drive away wasps.
It is often advised to hang a brown paper shopping bag at head height. This is to signal to the wasps that here is the territory of another swarm.
Good idea, but it has a catch. The two species that cause us problems, common and German wasp, do not have hanging nests at all. They build their homes in burrows in the ground or in dark cavities.
So paper floating in the air will hardly keep them from snacking on your ice cream.
4. fill a mineral bottle with beer or lemonade as a wasp trap.
In principle, this trick does work. BUT: Usually only the older and weak animals drown, the healthy ones escape.
And do you really want the animals to have such an agonizing death? They are not evil, they just need something to eat.
Home remedies to repel wasps
Of course you want to prevent the insects from inviting themselves to the barbecue. But if you follow some things then there is no reason for the chemical club against the insects. You can also repel wasps in a natural way.
Plants put in the fight against the wasps
Plants are the perfect home remedies against wasps! The smell of basil and tomatoes insects can not stand. And a beautiful basil bush in a pot looks nice on the terrace anyway. And the tomato plant is not so decorative but brings a lot of healthy, delicious tomatoes. Especially on the covered balcony, the plants grow great.
Lemon balm, mint and lavender also do not like wasps at all. The decorative plants can be planted in pretty flower pots and placed around the dining area.
If you need to do it quickly, you can also use essential oils. Peppermint or lavender as scented candles or in scented lamps help to drive away wasps.
Here you will learn everything about the various home remedies and their effects
These things attract wasps
Fruit that has fallen from the tree and becomes rotten, should be removed as soon as possible. Also rotten wood should be taken away already in the spring. This is because it is a favorite nesting place for wasps. And once you have a nest in the vicinity, you have a hard time driving wasps away.
The smell of wood polish is also suspected of attracting wasps. It is best to leave your garden furniture untreated or not to apply polish in July and August.
Do not leave food in the open
All food should be taken outside or at least covered just before eating. Also clear away leftovers as quickly as possible. The shorter food is left out in the open, the better. This is because wasps are attracted by the delicious smell of food.
Glasses and carafes should always remain covered. Take special care with bottles! Wasps may have crawled into the bottle or can (they especially like beer).
This is often difficult to detect and a sting in the throat and pharynx is not to be trifled with. Especially with children, you should be careful. Very practical are these drinking glasses with lids and straws in the canning jar look. Since no wasp can :)
You don't know what to fill into the cool "Jar-Glasses"? You can read here how to make healthy and delicious lemonade yourself: Click here for 10 great lemonade recipes.
Underestimated insects: Why do we need wasps?
Wasps do much more for us than their bad reputation would have us believe. Among other things, they hunt mosquitoes, flies and gnats. In other words, pests that can be quite annoying. Especially when you want to fall asleep and a bloodthirsty mosquito circles you. Wasps are very important for pest control.
In addition, wasps are important pollinators. Unlike bees that need fair weather, wasps pollinate even in the rain!
So wasps are quite different from what you think. They are very important for the ecosystem and really only sting us when they feel threatened.
Summary:
It doesn't take much to have a great barbecue. If you pay attention to some things you can divert your attention to something much more important. The food :) .
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