This is getting ridiculous. I’ve had four queen wasps in the kitchen this year and have come to the conclusion that there must be a reason for it.
Of course I know that the heavily egg loaded girlies spend winter hibernating and have already had their wedding flights so are ready and able to lay their eggs at the start of spring. But to have four in the house in one winter beggars belief.
The first three came in with the kindling. I’d cut and dried sprigs of bay laurel and fir cones to start the woodburner naturally and boy do they work a treat.
Trouble is the boxes of kindling were the perfect hibernation spot for a few of the Queenies for the winter. I’ve had a couple of wasp nests every year in the garden and I do try and let them do their own thing.
Most people don’t realise that wasps eat a massive amount of garden pests early in the season.
In late summer I had one massive momma whizzing around my head in the greenhouse.
She was looking for somewhere to overwinter and the greenhouse was a perfect choice. I don’t blame her, its warm and protected and there are few predators. I really didn’t relish the thought of unearthing her accidentally when working in there, but as I couldn’t catch her and I didn’t know where she went, I had to let her get on with it.
Then last week I bought a pot of greenhouse hyacinths into the house.
It’s been prettified with some moss around the bulbs and looks lovely on the kitchen windowsill.
The very next day, there was a huge hornet sized Queen wasp flying around the kitchen lights and I can only assume she had nested under the moss and was awakened in the warm of the kitchen.
It’s got me thinking though! I gave several friends and neighbours pots of hyacinths as gifts.
I wonder whether there were any other surprises in their Christmas presents, or whether I was just unlucky to get the only greenhouse wasp in mine.
Oops.
Oh and if you were wondering, every single one of them was captured gently and released back outside. I didn’t give them the train fare home, but I gave them a fair chance of survival even though they bully my bees.
