RAPID SPREAD OF WASPS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14720, 12 July 1948, Page 4

RAPID SPREAD OF WASPS

EFFORTS TO COMBAT PEST Beekeepers Express Concern Health Department To Be Approached (P.A.) Dunedin, July 10. The menace constituted by the rapid spread of wasps throughout many parts of the North Island in recent years was emphasised by Mr C. R. Paterson, apiary instructor of the Department of Agriculture, in an address to the annual conference of the National Beekeepers' Association.

In 1945 the vespa germanica, ' or queen wasp, was first discovered near Hamilton, Mr Paterson said. It was not taken very seriously. Since then the radius had extended to 40 miles and up to the end of June this year just under 3000 nests had been located and destroyed, reports having been made from the east to the west coast and from Tc Kuiti in the south to Auckland in the north.

Because the wasp lives en insects and even meat, many people considered it to have its uses, Mr Paterson continued, but these people did not realise the value of many insects in pollination. In its early stages the wasp fed on meat, but within a few months it turned to a sweet diet. This was causing alarm among orchardists and in vineyards, for with its penchant for sweet food the wasp could make deep inroads on many fruits. "It is the housewife who will suffer most if this pest gains any further holds," said Mr Paterson. "This species of wasp shows great determination in getting into houses, especially at meal time. Patients in the Waikato Hospital have been constantly annoyed during their meals by its persistent attempts to share their meal with them." The weaker hives were also in clanger, for in his opinion, many of the killed out hives reported in the Waikato district recently were clue to the operations of the wasp. A remit from the South Auckland branch, "that the conference get into touch with all the Government departments concerned, as well as the Federated Farmers, to see if a parasite can be introduced to combat the wasp menace, and that the executive be urged to draw the attention of the Department of Health to the position," was unanimously carried.