Insects

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TringSaint

Well-Known Member
Anyone else noting a higher than usual number of biting flies this year?

We do get them here, especially when around the sheep, but this year they are everywhere.
Conversely I am seeing fewer wasps this year (not that I am complaining about that).

Wasn’t sure if this was a local thing (ppl around here are all noticing the biters) or if it was more widespread.
 
Wasp numbers very low, ive only treated 8 nests so far, a mate has done 15 this time last year he had done over 60.
Ive seen quiet a few stable flies.
 
In the 1980s leave a light on and the window open you got loads of insect in but not so today, eating outside and wasps everywhere but not now and the car was plastered in bodies and red smears, out door venues often had a dish of jam etc. Just away from the guests to attract wasps etc not a problem anymore. However I did think yesterday there are a few more i sects on the car.
 
We had loads of wasps last year. I had jam jar traps everywhere and caught masses of them, but this year I have seen maybe a handful of wasps.

Other insects are higher in numbers, especially the bitey ones plus loads of butterflies, but we do have a garden which is full of plants for pollinators.
Plenty of bees kicking about too, which is good.
 
TringSaint said:
Anyone else noting a higher than usual number of biting flies this year?

We do get them here, especially when around the sheep, but this year they are everywhere.
Conversely I am seeing fewer wasps this year (not that I am complaining about that).

Wasn’t sure if this was a local thing (ppl around here are all noticing the biters) or if it was more widespread.
Click to expand...
I have just finished a course of Antibiotics for an infection in my lower leg following a bite by something, The infection didn't happen for around 4 weeks after the bite, Bloody thing love me
 
I am fed up with biting insects ... its a double pain .. once when they bite you and again when you slap them full tilt to kill them and end up with a sore leg etc. But agreed that there seem to be a lot more about this year.

I have killed 3 wasps nests at home this year - 2 with a blowtorch as they were near a swallows nest and the third on a facia board who got the chemical treatment.
 
I got stung on the the top lip by a wasp earlier,first time I’ve been stung for years, feel like I should post a selfie on instagram looking like I’ve had Botox.
 
Mike1979 said:
I am fed up with biting insects ... its a double pain .. once when they bite you and again when you slap them full tilt to kill them and end up with a sore leg etc. But agreed that there seem to be a lot more about this year.

I have killed 3 wasps nests at home this year - 2 with a blowtorch as they were near a swallows nest and the third on a facia board who got the chemical treatment.
Click to expand...
I had a wasp nest in an old muck pile I was forking over. Didn’t know until I ripped it in half and then bravely ran away whilst being chased by a swarm of very angry wasps.

Was soon fixed with a can of wd and a blow torch (got to drop the airforce first) followed by some diesel and a burning rag into the nest.
 
TringSaint said:
I had a wasp nest in an old muck pile I was forking over. Didn’t know until I ripped it in half and then bravely ran away whilst being chased by a swarm of very angry wasps.

Was soon fixed with a can of wd and a blow torch (got to drop the airforce first) followed by some diesel and a burning rag into the nest.
Click to expand...
It certainly raises the blood pressure.

Had that when I was a kid...turned a hay bale over in an old barn...hornets nest in the bale...my god did that sting hurt...also helping clear an old shed and there was a wasps nest in some old carpet...that went straight on the bonfire :)
 
Had a painful red golf ball sized lump on the back of a leg for a few days after being tasted by a fly which I ID'd as a cleg, one of the horsefly family.
Wasn't quick enough to swat the bugger before it started lunch....
Haven't noticed many mosquitos so far this year, but far more moths and butterflies than in previous years, including humming bird hawkmoths, tiger moths, and painted lady butterflies.

D.
 
TringSaint said:
We had loads of wasps last year. I had jam jar traps everywhere and caught masses of them, but this year I have seen maybe a handful of wasps.

Other insects are higher in numbers, especially the bitey ones plus loads of butterflies, but we do have a garden which is full of plants for pollinators.
Plenty of bees kicking about too, which is good.
Click to expand...
We began to noticed the total lack of flies stuck on the front if trains years back. They used to come on depot from a day in service with the yellow front 75% black..
 
And why destroy wasps nests? We've had them in the house on a number of occasions, and just let them do their thing instead of rushing around screaming and waving arms.....we've been "nipped" a few times but can't remember ever being stung.
They're beneficial insects that won't usually attack unless provoked.

D.
 
Demetrius said:
And why destroy wasps nests? We've had them in the house on a number of occasions, and just let them do their thing instead of rushing around screaming and waving arms.....we've been "nipped" a few times but can't remember ever being stung.
They're beneficial insects that won't usually attack unless provoked.

D.
Click to expand...
I'm a bee keeper and bees are much more beneficial then wasps and wasps will destroy a bee hive. I know the convention is that wasps will only destroy weak hives but that is incorrect having seen 3 strong colonies destroyed by wasps last year due to the mild lead into winter.
 
I agree, bees pollinate, but above all, have commercial value, with decent honey at £5 to £10 a lb. , but that doesn't make wasps a pest to be destroyed on sight.
Wasps also predate many other actual pests, reducing the need for pesticides, play a part in pollination, and their venom is currently being researched for potential medical applications.

D.
 
Demetrius said:
I agree, bees pollinate, but above all, have commercial value, but that doesn't make wasps a pest to be destroyed on sight.
Wasps also predate many other actual pests, reducing the need for pesticides, play a part in pollination, and their venom is currently being researched for potential medical applications.

D.
Click to expand...
The commercial value of our bees is not worth the effort from a financial perspective ...probably ends up being less then £1 per hour if you did the maths. Their value from a pollination perspective massively outweighs the benefit of wasps ... so on that basis any nests I find near our bees get destroyed.

If you are happy with wasps then leave them alone...but respect those who arent a fan and destroy them.
 
Mike1979 said:
The commercial value of our bees is not worth the effort from a financial perspective ...probably ends up being less then £1 per hour if you did the maths. Their value from a pollination perspective massively outweighs the benefit of wasps ... so on that basis any nests I find near our bees get destroyed.

If you are happy with wasps then leave them alone...but respect those who arent a fan and destroy them.
Click to expand...
I won’t touch wasp nests if they are in the paddocks, only if they are in areas where we go a lot, like the garden / stables.

Wondering if many wasps built ground nests last summer only to then get drowned in the wet winter. Might explain the lack of them this year.
 
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