Orange’s wineries and orchards are on the offensive, with help from the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

The DPI will use the wasps’ natural behaviour to manage them after trials in Tasmania showed a 99 per cent reduction within a month.

Entomologist Peter Gillespie said they were a growing problem in summer, particularly for people eating outdoors.

“[We will be] attracting them to a station, hoping they take poisoned food back to the nest and have the nest die,” he said.

First, staff will place normal cat food in fly traps across 40 stations to establish a reliable food source.

Once the wasps have responded, staff will then replace the food with slow-acting poisoned food to ensure soldier wasps make it back to the nest before being cannibalised by the rest of the swarm and passing the insecticide on.

DPI insect collection manager Ainsley Seago said cat food was chosen because wasps were attracted to protein, while bees were not.

FOOD Week committee chair James Sweetapple said wasps had been an ongoing risk at the annual Forage event, as well as for pickers.

“They’re very invasive, they’re very threatening, they bully you and it’s the most incredible pain when you get bitten,” he said.

Mr Gillespie said the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority had only approved the baiting program for vineyards and orchards, but he hoped the data might enable other baiting programs in urban areas.