Wasps. What good do they do?

[Dynamo]

I just noticed in another thread that wasps can actually do a bit of good in the garden. I gather that they are one of natures predators and therefore get rid of the sorts of insects and things that we don't like to find in our gardens, but I'd love to hear a fuller explanation if there is one please.

[Jerryfb]

They like to feed caterpillars to their babies. I've seen then in late summer around the cabbage patch on the look out for caterpillars. Generally though as they are carnivorous they will go for any soft skinned grub or insect. A few rotten apples is a small wage for what is a pretty good job. They're still no fun though when you have a nest close to where people pass by.

[BilboWaggins]

Hi Dynamo

There's been a couple of threads this week about wasps, one of them mine 'cos I found a nest in an inconvenient place in the garden.

My understanding is that they are primarily beneficial because they are pollinators (and with the current decline in bee health and populations, I reckon we need all the pollination help we can get) and that they eat grubs & stuff so can help keep a garden healthy.

I think wasps have had a very bad press over the years because in the autumn they can be a right nuisance around fruit trees and most people don't like them coming into the house towards the end of the season.

My own experience is that a wasp (or bee) will never sting unless provoked - let's face it, if something the size of a T Rex was threatening you, wouldn't you kick it in the shins or fight back? That is all a wasp is doing.

If we have any Entomologists on the Vine I'd like to know if there is another side to the wasp story but as far as I'm concerned, killing them is just another way of upsetting the food chain and natural balance of predators.

[Flummery]

What did the Romans do for us?

[Snadger]

What did the Romans do for us?

Not another monty python fan!

Wasps do a good job of getting rid of rotten fruit among other things methinks!

[coreopsis]

Not another monty python fan!

Wasps do a good job of getting rid of rotten fruit among other things methinks!

Aye,just like the moose in Finland a few years back.Bu%@er was coming every night to the village for apple feast and fruit was fermenting in his tummy and drunken moose was loitering in the village looking for some adventures...

[Flummery]

Not another monty python fan!

Of course!

[FB.]

I've seen wasps grab and drag away craneflies (adult leatherjackets).
I've also seen wasps kidnapping caterpillars.
....and probably other pests that I can't remember at the moment.

Early in the year, wasps are allies in the garden or veg plot.
As autumn approaches, wasps will cause some fruit damage (but not usually enough to be serious) and they often get aggressive.

Early this year, I had the chance to kill a couple of queens-to-be, but after balancing the pro's and con's, I decided to let them go. I have a neutral-to-slightly-good opinion of wasps.

[coreopsis]

We had the wasp nest somewhere in the cavity last year(never managed to locate it),had to cover all the vents before we went for the holidays.When we came back,there were loads of dead wasps in the bathroom,hall and the staircase.They don't bother me outside but I don't fancy having a wasp nest in the house.

[Hilary B]

I love watching wasps collect nest-building material. They make paper nests, and gather wood-pulp from dead trees, and unpainted wood in all sorts of places! If you see paler, slightly 'rubbed away' looking patches on unpainted wood, watch for a while, and you may see the wasps come to collect what they need. Those same powerful (for the size) jaws will make short work of all sorts of garden nasties.
Toward the end of the summer, just as all the fruit is ripening, the young queen wasps emerge, and there is no more nest-building or protein collection. The remaining wasps can just enjoy themselves, living on sweet things, like your jam sandwich.
This is when they tend to be everywhere you don't want them. Many wasp stings are the result of a wasp being un-noticed, until it gets squeezed, so it fights back as best it can.
Wasps ARE less reluctant to sting than bees, because a bee can only sting once, then it dies. A wasp can sting, and fly away and live to sting another day.
Only queen wasps live over winter, they seek somewhere to hibernate, and odd hidden corners houses are often chosen. In spring she wakes up and sets about starting a new nest, in which her first daughters (workers) will look after next year's baby queens.....

[Polly Fouracre]

I just noticed in another thread that wasps can actually do a bit of good in the garden. I gather that they are one of natures predators and therefore get rid of the sorts of insects and things that we don't like to find in our gardens, but I'd love to hear a fuller explanation if there is one please.

There's a place in this world and a purpose for every living thing, it's only when it gets in the way of humans that it becomes a pest!

[kate&rob]

There's a place in this world and a purpose for every living thing, it's only when it gets in the way of humans that it becomes a pest!

i agree with you there, i don't have a problem with wasps or bees, touch wood i've never been stung by either, i get bees onto my finger to get them out of the greenhouse, not tried it with wasps tho.
wouldn't want loads in my house but if a nest did appear, don't think i could kill them, just try and prevent them coming into the living area.

[NOG]

Wasps and Bees are like to Tigers and lions. They both can attack but Lions will have to be pushed. Tigers will do it for fun.

[Insectcurator]

This is suggesting that wasps do things for fun? All insects behave in an instinctive way - there is no thought behind anything they do.
The difference in behaviour between bees and wasps is more to do with the fact that bees collect pollen and wasps collect caterpillars etc - so the insect that stings for its suppper and does so every day, will sting people more readily.
Don