I'm Thinking some kind of hi res camera with optical recognition software linked to a 30 watt laser!

Simple. You don’t need a wasp trap at all. Remove the reason why they are there and they will go elsewhere. Your traps are simply attracting them!

Most wasps will now be hunting for sugar – unlike earlier in the season when they were being fed by their larvae.

Have you checked your eaves, etc for a nest entrance?

Have a look at the video, on this advert, for a high efficiency wasp trap. It is one advert of many for wasbane type traps. Karol, the inventor of the WaspBane trap, is a well renowned expert on wasp habits.

**LINK**

The fellow on this advert specifically tells you that if you remove the attraction, the wasps will go elsewhere.

I keep bees and would now never consider putting any wasp trap close to my hives – not even if a hive is being troubled by wasps! By all means attract them somewhere else and trap them!

Clive’s trap works because the wasps fly towards the light. A better trap is one with entry slots lower down and no possible exit at the top. Clive’s version is easier to load and empty.

The WaspBane traps are high efficiency. With your jam jars, any wasps which escape will simply return with a load more of their sisters from its nest.

I reiterate – remove the attraction and the wasps will go elsewhere for their sugary sustenance.

Get a pet Badger

Neil

Ifv you can get, or have some Carberil insecticide, put some (teaspoon full) in the bottom of a small plastic jar. Next the fun part, catch a wasp and put it in the jar, shake it around a bit, then let the wasp go, it will head back to the nest. The more you can treat this way the sooner the nest will die out, you should manage without getting stung.

Ian S C

Yes, seeing a honey bee over here is a hit or miss thing, seen 1 this year. "0" last year. No cherries also.

Very sorry JF1, if a wasp is in my air-space it has to die.

Here we go, dragonflies from yesterday. Not bad for phone pictures, but don't get the depth in the compound eyes.

Wasps at this time of the year will not be aiding the grower, either by pollination or by catching pests for feeding their larvae.. The nest is breaking down; the wasps will eat fruit or other sugary substances.

The new queens will be mated and soon hibernate until next spring (I don’t know when the hibernation period might begin). Presumably the queens will still be feeding up for the winter? Yes, wasps are an important part of the eco-system. They and their nests should not be destroyed earlier in the season, unless a specific nuisance.

One possible reason why Neil may be seeing more insects than usual is the ban on certain non-specific insecticides – those that kill or damage bee colonies (amongst the rest of the insect population that also suffers). Another might be the increased temperatures due to climate change?

We need biodiversity more than some think. Humans try to alter the eco-system (agriculture) to their advantage but in the long run we must learn to live with nature and not try to change it. A bit like climate change due to fossil fuel burning altering the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. A bit like the destruction of the ozone layer by man-made CFCs, which is only slowly recovering after the ban on the worst offending chemicals umpteen years ago. Kill all the insects and we kill ourselves, eventually.

Speaking about wasps, any idea what this winged insect is? Was enjoying some coffee on the terrace this morning when this 3cm wasp like insect came buzzing around…scared the ….. out of me to be honest. It's about double the size of any wasp or bee I've ever seen! Can't believe I took a photo….ok it's zoomed in, I chickened!

Re-the wasps, wasps as such do not eat and can only suck liquid even though they have mandibles. They forage for protien for the larvea who as a reward will give a drop of sweet lliquid from a gland on their rears end. This prompts the wasp to forage again.

The nest, can be in a tree or loft or shed or underground in a vacant mouse hole. They will enlarge it considerably.

Often you will see lumps of mud on your car from excavations.

Disposing of a nest, do it after dark using a torch as a shield. Allowing you to get close. Foam cans with a tube are good but slow. If done in the daytime foraging wasps come back to find the nest smell gone and they hang about for days.They are Pheromone driven. Given from the Queen. Do not use petrol and ignite as I have seen a chap lose his hair and have facial burns as the petrol blew out of the hole in the ground. Heavy volatiles like Nitro Cellulose thinners kill them but put a dustbin lid over the hole to keep the vapour in. They will not re-use an old nest but will build anew each year. Only a hibernatining fertile Queen will survive the winter.

I think the second one is a migrant hawker.

@ChrisB – it's a parasitic wasp of some sort. The 'Alien' of the insect world…

Neil