Four Million Wasps

"One fine morning in Itching Down, four million wasps flew into town,"....these are the opening words of a picture story book for young children called 'The Giant Jam Sandwich.' I have loved this ever since I first read it to my pupils over fifty years ago when it was newly published. We subsequently read it so many times to our young sons that I can now just about recite every word by heart. It is a classic! What's more it always comes to mind in the middle of summer, when the wasps descend.

So, how did the villagers deal with this problem? They recruited Bap, the village baker, to make a huge loaf, from which they created a giant jam sandwich trap. It was so successful that while 3999997 wasps were trapped, only three wasps escaped, "...but, as the book says... "they never came back to Itching Down, which was not a waspish kind of town!"

But sadly, if Itching Down is no longer a waspish kind of place, Domaine des Rochers certainly is. I was recalling this story the other day as we are currently suffering from an invasion of wasps. Maybe not four million...but sometimes it feels like it. We know of two wasp nests close to the house , and there are most probably more . So what's to be done?

Of course we could construct a trap. Unfortunately a giant jam sandwich would not be feasible. However we did once learn how to trap wasps when we were camping in Brittany, where we were similarly plagued. Our fellow French campers knew how to construct traps from plastic bottles. They cut them in half, placed jam in the bottom, and inverted the top half to channel the wasps towards the jam. We constructed one too, and it was grimly satisfying to watch the wasps writhe about in their sticky trap, as we ate in peace.

But wait a minute! Do we really wish to kill our wasps?

And was it really O.K. to tell kids a story about a mass killing of wasps?

Since coming to live here our attitude towards wild-life has changed. Over the years the mammals, the birds and insects have come to feel more like fellow passengers through life, with whom we share this wonderful environment. We don't wish them harm. At times these ideals become challenged, as with the invasions of stink bugs that we have experienced. But while we aren't saints, if we can avoid killing creatures, we certainly will. So wasp traps that end up with hundreds of dead wasps, never mind millions, are definitely out! We do not wish to kill our pollinator friends. But we do want to eat our outdoor meals in peace! And so we have decided to entice them away from our table.

Savoury or sweet?

The next problem we had to face was what to use as a lure. My late brother in law, who was always a fount of information, was adamant that by this time of year wasps prefer meat, and that jam was of little interest to them. We experimented with both. As you will see from my photographs, while the meat worked well, so did the jam. Consequently we have set up a stand just beyond our outdoor dining table, on which we have placed three containers. One with marmalade, one with plum jam, and the last one blueberry. As it turns out the wasps love them all equally. Moreover we can now eat lunch in complete peace.

Bon appétit wasps ! Now we can all dine together amically!

P.S.

Further observation shows us that the wasps nibble and tug at pieces of meat and carry them off to the nest. As for the jam, they just feed themselves. Perhaps there was some truth in what my brother in law told me after all.