Cold and wet spring: Fewer wasps on the go

 The months of July and August are actually wasp time - but this year the yellow-black insects with the spines that some people fear are rare. The wet and cold weather in spring meant that the wasps could not find enough food to feed their larvae, says Brigitte Martin from the environmental association BUND Darmstadt. This also has consequences for other animal species, because the wasps themselves and their larvae also serve as food - for the hornets, which are protected species, for example, for bird species such as the rare honey buzzard or for shrews.

Martin works as a volunteer wasp advisor for the BUND and helps with the relocation of wasp and hornet nests as part of a private sideline.

The animals are sucked off with a special device and after consultation with foresters or private individuals, for example in forests or on suitable garden plots in nesting boxes, they find a new home.

Annoying Species: German and Common Wasp

Specifically, these are Germans and the common wasp, which, in contrast to other species, can be a nuisance because they primarily aim for sweets and meat at the coffee table, while eating ice cream or barbecuing.

Most of the other 600 wasp species native to Germany and neighboring countries, on the other hand, are considered harmless.

Wasps are useful anyway because they help pollinate plants and destroy smaller pests such as aphids and mosquitoes.

While she looked after around 50 colonies in the dry and hot summer of 2020, there are only eight this year, says Martin.

Correspondingly, the number of resettlements has also fallen to around a fifth this year.

In her job, the expert is often faced with tricky tasks because the wasps like to set up in hard-to-reach and dark corners of the house - in roller shutter boxes, loft niches and ventilation pipes, for example, they build their light beige or light gray nests.

Martin wears a protective suit and rubber boots so that she does not get stung at work - this is a sweaty affair, especially in midsummer temperatures, especially since resettlement can take several hours, says Martin.

Still, there is no other way, because otherwise the animals would use the smallest openings to attack them with stings.

If there are no allergy sufferers in the house and no one else is in danger, she often advises you to leave nests in place - especially since the nests are empty after a season anyway, as a new queen always sets up a new nest in the spring .

Expansion of organic farming

The fact that there are so few wasps this summer does not mean that fewer specimens will be around in the coming summer.

The weather in spring alone decides the wasp population in a season, said Martin.

The climate change, which affects other insect species in part, tends to benefit the Germans and the common wasp because they find more food and the larvae have better chances of survival in spring.

In general, many insects in Germany are considered threatened - from hoverflies and grasshoppers to various types of beetles and bedbugs to butterflies, dragonflies and wild bees, as Martin says.

Among other things, the expansion of organic farming should contribute to better protection of insect populations in Hessen: the corresponding area was 121,740 hectares last year, which was 16 percent of the total cultivation area, as a spokeswoman for the Hessian Ministry of the Environment said.

An increase in this share to 25 percent is planned by 2025.

The use of pesticides is prohibited on organic farming areas.

Flower strips at the edges of fields should also provide more insects with food and a home.

Here the area with annual flower strips has increased from 418 hectares in 2015 to 1965 hectares this year.

In the case of the perennial flower strips, the area increased from 806 to 2025 hectares in the same period.

"Our ecosystem is our livelihood - if it wobbles, it has serious consequences for all of nature and us humans," explains the ministry.

Above all, pollinating insects have a decisive role in this.

Without them, plants would not be able to produce fruit and animals and humans would lose their basic food sources.

In addition, insects are important as food for the survival of other animal species.

"That is why we are particularly committed to protecting insects," said the ministry.

In many nature conservation and Natura 2000 areas, it is also about the preservation of habitats rich in insects, such as extensively used meadows or dry sandy grasslands - or also about the targeted protection of species or groups of species such as wild bees, digger wasps or wood-dwelling beetles.