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Eating outside on a patio at this time of year may not be the best experience, unless you enjoy sharing your meal with pesky yellowjackets.
Wasps are out in force now that their queens have vacated the colonies. Worker wasps that have spent the summer gathering food and feeding larvae are now suddenly without a job, said Jeremy McNeil, an entomologist with Western University in London, Ont.
“So they’re just flying around and, of course, they’re attracted to sweet things,” he said.
While a lot of wasps are out every September, staff at the Early Bird on Talbot near King Street have found they’ve come earlier than usual this year.
The Early Bird’s curbside patio is surrounded by a small outdoor garden meant to pretty up the space, but the sweet scent of flower nectar mixed with maple syrup is an irresistible temptation for nearby yellowjackets.
“If you’re on the patio having a drink or two, it’s not too bad, but as soon as the food comes out, you’re basically getting swarmed,” said Megan Watt, the Early Bird’s manager.
Like many restaurants with outdoor patios, to keep the insects away, staff put up traps such as containers filled with sweet liquids.
The Church Key Bistro on Richmond Street uses a mixture of grenadine and Pepsi in their traps, said general manager Kendra Perlman.
However, even the best traps don’t stop every wasp from bothering customers.
“They’ve been pretty bad the last few weeks, so we’ve had a lot of customers move inside after coming out to the patio, ordering a beverage then realizing how bad the wasps are,” Perlman said.
A milder winter and summer created the right conditions for colonies to thrive and boost their numbers, McNeil said.
Some tips to keep from getting stung
Staying perfectly still when a wasp becomes curious and lands on someone is the best recourse as it will normally lose interest and fly off.
“We don’t like it and we flap at them, which is not exactly the wisest thing to do. They immediately take it as an attack and sting,” McNeil said.
Killing them is also a bad idea. When a wasp dies, its body releases chemical signals that warn others in the area to get ready for a fight.
McNeil suggests putting out small bowls of cider vinegar and locating them far away from where you’re sitting.
He also suggests avoiding using sweet-smelling products, such as skin creams or perfumes. Also, properties with fruit left to ferment in the hot sun will attract wasps, and even get them a little tipsy.
“Most of them just mellow out like most human beings, but some get aggressive and may just fly up and sting you,” McNeil said.
As fall fast approaches and temperatures drop, so too will the wasp population. He said there isn’t much time left in their life cycle and the best thing to do is to just wait them out.
“They’re not within the colony anymore — they’re solitary at this point and will soon just die.”
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