Tea Plus What?
 

Early this morning, I had watched the sunrise from my kitchen window, permanently ajar during the summer. Beautiful start to the day, and with a cuppa in hand, life was bliss - until I saw a wasp (sworn enemy of mankind) searching around the cooker.

Great move coming up when I reached past said beastie to pick up my anti frying splash grid and walloped it across the kitchen. Ah, where did that go, I couldn't find it. Went to sip my tea to stare at the aforementioned little b - well wasp, well boiled now, in my cuppa. What a waste of a tea bag.

Ah! But what a way to go, better in mug of tea rather that a pint of ale.

Depending on the beer, but it could still leave a bitter taste!

I know that the poor wasp has a bad reputation, but they are still a vital part of the ecosystem.....
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-do-wasps-do.html

Born with a chip on their thorax! (well, hatched)

Poor wasp, what did he do to you?

I'm huge believer that everything has a right to live and if you are not prepared to eat it then don't kill it!:}

Wasps are pollinators and are very good for catching midges and other little irritants, but of course having even one of them indoors is particularly unwelcome, such as the time I put my work boots back on after my lunch break and got about 10 paces out of the house when the sudden burning sensation began to affect the sole of my foot. Not sure how many times it stung me, but it was painful to walk for days! A nearby colony can also wreak havoc on any fruit you may be growing, as I know to my immense frustration - last year's entire crop of cherries was picked clean while they were still green, leaving the stones hanging from the trees like hundreds of little skulls.

Wasps are also highly territorial creatures and are very aggressive about defending their area from other wasps. So if a ranger flies into your garden and sees what looks like another colony's nest hanging from a tree or the side of the house or whatever, it will avoid the risk of confrontation and you are far less likely to have an actual nest built nearby. Back in March, I put up a fake wasps' nest at the top of the fence that encloses my little orchard. This year, despite working outdoors for long hours nearly every day, thus far I have seen exactly one wasp.

This is the version I got - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192864363582
One of these should be effective over a radius of at least 200 feet, so long as it's put up early enough in the year - it definitely won't deter an already established colony. The first one I put up last year ended up being destroyed either by strong wind & rain or by the likes of magpies pecking at it. So this year I replaced it with one I'd reinforced by completely covering it with packing tape, and it's still there four months later. No pesticides, no poisons, no more practicising martial arts with the invisible man. :}

That's really clever, I didn't know they made fake nests.