A workshop will be held at Summer Hill Creek on Saturday to help manage European wasps, which have increased rapidly this year.
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Summer Hill Creekcare is holding the workshop at 2pm to about 4.30pm at Third Crossing, 870 Ophir Road, to provide information on the identification, ecology and management of the pests, which are spreading rapidly along Summer Hill Creek and in Orange.
Department of Primary Industries collections curator and wasp expert Peter Gillespie will lead a talk, which will be followed by walk around the property to look at some of the nests, both dead and alive, with discussion on the best control methods.
“There’s more of them, a far higher frequency this autumn than there have been for many other years, we’re not sure why” he said.
His suspicion was that the milder winter and spring last year did not kill as many of the older wasps as usual so more juveniles were born leading to more nests.
“I have four nests in my backyard this year, I’ve been here over 20 years, I’ve had two other nests in all that time,” Mr Gillespie said.
“You don’t notice the nests when they are little, it takes all summer for them to grow.”
He said the nests can be found in the ground, among tree roots, compost heaps and people’s roofs.
Although the opening is often the size of a 50 cent piece, the nest could be as big as a basketball and house 3000 wasps, which can attack when the nest is under threat.
Mr Gillespie said the wasps are about the size of a bee, bright yellow and with arrows pointing down their back and have a painful sting and unlike bees, each wasp can sting multiple times.
He said they will eat anything with protein including other insects, cat or dog food and often hover around the front of cars to get at the dead bugs collected on the number plate and grill.
Register by phoning Cilla Kinross on 6365 7651 or email ckinross@csu.edu.au.