Wasps are back this summer in the United Kingdom – many of them

John Horsley jardicated when he felt a wasp crawling in his t-shirt.

“It stung me several times in my back,” he said. “It was not a pleasant experience.”

Being part of the British Pest Control Association, John knows the problems that wasps can cause picnics or beer gardens at the door a summer day and build annoying nests.

After a drop in wasp calls in recent summers, its industry was more busy than usual to solve the problems caused by wasps this year, he said. These may include large nests appearing earlier in the season.

The wasps are currently raising their young people, but later in summer, they tend to come together in public spaces in search of a sweet snack before their death.

So, does that look like a wasp summer? “We have no insect scourges,” explains Mr. Outley.

“But it seems that every few years, the wasps will have a strong year and that it generally coincides with specific weather conditions – this year, it was very hot and very dry – it was a very good year for them.”

The Met Office says that we have had the hottest spring for over 50 years. Last year, the United Kingdom had its coolest summer for nine years.

One of the main experts in the wasp in the world, Professor Seirian Sumner of the University College of London, warns that scientific data on wasps numbers will not be published for a while.

But his intestinal feeling is that “all the signs are, depending on the weather and other insect populations, it will be a happy new year for wasps”.

The United Kingdom has about 9,000 wasp species – most of them solitary, which means that they do not live in large colonies and are generally not a nuisance for humans.

Only a small number are social wasps, like the common wasp, Vespula Vulleriswhich is the most common to interact with humans. They are the second insects, insects, insects or refreshers in the United Kingdom, after the spider, according to a Yougov survey in 2021.

But Professor Sumner and other experts in wasp emphasize that they are not all bad.

“These are really important parts of the ecosystem – they are Apex predators,” she said.

“Take out a higher predator from any system – like the Serengeti lion – it has training effects in prey populations which will not be checked by their predator.

“And the wasps are controllers of natural and natural pests – they therefore make jobs in our gardens, in our wild landscapes, in our agricultural landscapes. They help keep pests remotely.”

Nikki Banfield, of the C chassee Insect Buglife, says that we have to take care of the wasps.

“Many people don’t like wasps, they classify them like angry bees, but they have a really valid goal in the natural world,” she said.

In this broader natural world, recent studies show generalized decreases from world insect populations, certain species of insects being pushed towards extinction.

The loss of insects is linked to intensive agriculture, pesticides and climate change, with deep consequences for the many birds, amphibians, bats and reptiles that are based on insects for food.

But the common wasp seems to kiss this trend – its population remaining stable in the past 100 years – with home flights, cockroaches and the European cornet, which increases through the United Kingdom and moving north while the climate warms up.

The observations of the invasion of the Asian or yellow leg hornet, who arrived in the United Kingdom in 2016, are also increasing.

And after a bad year for butterflies in 2024, naturalists say that many common species, such as the big white, also seem to prosper this summer.

Ladybugs also seem to benefit from warmer temperatures, according to experts.

So, fortunately, for the ecosystem-but perhaps unfortunately for our picnics-the wasps seem to prosper here in the United Kingdom.

How can we live next to each other then?

Ms. Banfield suggests that we leave something sweet, like a small hood of jam or orange juice, at a short distance from the picnic area to distract the insects.

Other practical tips include not shouting, beat your arms or type on wasps, as it will stir them and make them more aggressive.

Wasp stings can present a risk of public health – they can cause an anaphylactic shock – Mr. Horsley underlines, so he has advice.

“Don’t bother them. Try to stay away from them as much as possible and, if it should be treated, talk to a professional,” he said.