Jacqui came and spoke to members of the Coatesville Garden Club recently, and members were asking what to do about the wasps*.
I was happy to share what I do!
It’s clear that the declining population of our butterflies, particularly the monarch, is due to the increased number of wasps, both Vespula species and paper wasps (Polistes). By reducing the number of wasps in our gardens we can give bees and butterflies a chance to survive.
Having a shade house for your potted swan plants is an ideal solution to protect the eggs, and caterpillars, plus installing several wasp catchers around your garden (I have 14) draws the Vespula wasps away from the swan plants to drown in the wasp catcher.
Wasp catchers are cheap to buy at Bunnings, Mitre 10 and The Warehouse (or you can make your own, search the internet for instructions). The stores also have the lure which wasps love.
I always add a dessertspoon of cat biscuits (such as Friskies, Smitten or Whiskas) to the lure as wasps are looking for protein.
Hang your wasp traps in a sunny sheltered position on hedges, shrubs, trees. It may take a day or two for the wasps to find it. When the wasps are out in force towards November, December and January you may need to empty the traps almost every day, or I just add another one alongside. Make sure you drop the trap into a small rubbish bag, spray with fly spray to kill any live Wasps before you empty it into a bucket, wash and reset.
Sadly, paper wasps (Polistes spp.) are not interested in the lures: you need to find their nests and remove them.
Happy wasp trapping.
* By wasps, I mean the introduced pest species.
