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wasps and plum trees

• Message 1. 

  Posted by lorraine (U14436550) on Sunday, 30th May 2010

  Help needed please I know it is a bit early to worry about plums yet my other half takes a while to start to make things haha just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to keep the pesky things away This is only the second year of having them Last year we had 2 and the wasps had 4 This year we have loads we really dont want the wasps to have too many So any advice would be VERY welcome

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Toadspawn (U2334298) on Sunday, 30th May 2010

  Wasps only eat plums when they are ripe and sweet ie. in late summer when they are ready for harvest. If you want to protect your plums you should locate and destroy any nests nearby especially later on.
  Wasps are very beneficial in the garden because they feed their larvae on meat in the form of insects and their larvae. During the process of feeding the larvae exude a drop of sweet liquid from their rear. This is taken in by the adult wasps. In the late summer/early autumn when the queen wasp stops laying eggs there are no larvae to feed and thus no sweet reward for the adults. It is at this time that they become a nuisance looking for anything sweet to eat.
  All wasps except the newly mated queens die before winter. The queens hibernate and emerge in the spring to start a new nest.

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by poshHebeJeebie (U9319867) on Sunday, 30th May 2010

  Toadspawn - what a mine of information you are! Fascinating stuff.
  
  btw I have an old dustbin at the back of the GH that I use for chucking away old/cracked pots, seed trays etc. It was getting rather full (the lid wasn't able to be closed properly), so I cleared it today - and a wasp flew out. Then a discovered the start of a wasps' nest - about the size of a golf ball - that had been started in an old pot.
  
  Reading your post makes me feel a bit guilty that I destroyed it. But I have to confess to having no great love of the things, having been stung just inside the mouth by one a few years ago
  
  PHJ

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by lorraine (U14436550) on Monday, 31st May 2010

  thanks toadspawn we will now have to go looking for a nest to try and get rid of the little horrors

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• Message 5

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  Posted by Summerchild (U14187397) on Monday, 31st May 2010

  From past experience I find that harvesting any fruit as soon as it is ready, and clearing up any fallen fruit quickly helps to keep wasps away in normal circumstances.
  S

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• Message 6

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  Posted by realfood (U13916672) on Monday, 31st May 2010

  If your plum tree is still small, it is possible to use a cheap mosquito net from the likes of Lidl and prevent the wasps getting to the plums.
  See the photos on this page :-

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by netherfield (U3897706) on Monday, 31st May 2010

  I made some wasp traps last year and caught hundreds of little blighters.
  
  Take a 2 litre plastic bottle which most soft drinks come in,throw away the cap, cut off the top part just at the point where it starts to reduce in diameter,turn this over and shove it back into the bottom part of the bottle and fix in place,I used a stapler,make a hole either side and use some string to tie it to the tree or something nearby,pour some cheap diluted orange juice or watered down honey in the bottom of the bottle.
  
  The wasps go down through the opening attracted to the fluid inside,but can't find their way back out again.
  
  Disposal is up to your own thoughts although most drown in the fluid anyway.
  
  

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• Message 8

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Friday, 4th June 2010

  M5 Summerchild has got to be right.
  
  Keep everything clean and tidy and you will not have the problem.
  I would only add that:
  You may actually have to pick the plums to avoid their being got at, by the wasps, before the fruit falls.
  
  And why should you not want to get there first?
  
  By contrast the blackbird's clucking is a reminder to me of when the raspberries are ready.
  
  His shrill cries are to be heard when he discovers I have re-entered the annual partnership for enjoyment of the fruit, but usually when I start on them he stops, knowing that I am first in the pecking order.

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