MENACE OF WASPS IN THE WAIKATO: CONTROL MEASURES

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 October 1948, Page 4

MENACE OF WASPS IN THE WAIKATO: CONTROL MEASURES

A warning to beekeepers and the general public on the need for urgent remedial measures as soon as thep resence of wasps in a district is ascertained was sounded last evening by Mr C. R. Paterson, apiary instructor, Department of Agriculture, at Hamilton, when he addressed 28 beekeepers at Greymouth. Mr Paterson said that the wasps had been established in the Waikato district for four years and had become a decided nuisance to farmers, housewives, orchardists and beekeepers. They had spread considerably in that time to as far north as Auckland, and also to Taranaki, and Mr Paterson emphasised the need for the co-operation of the public in eliminating them. The wasps which had become established, said Mr Paterson, were a common sort well known in England and European countries, where, however, they were naturally controlled by the climate. In the Waikato, with its longer summers and mildex - winters, there was no such natural control. He produced one wasp nest which, he stated, had started 800 wasps in the season after it had been established by the queen. In an effort to control the menace the Department of Agriculture was paying a bounty of 3d for every queen wasp destroyed and up to last week in this season over 9000 queen wasps had been destroyed. A research programme was also being carried out to find some means of controlling the wasps. A special chemical powder was issued free for the destruction of nests. By this method 2000 nests were destroyed by the department’s officers last year in the Waikato district and 2000 more by m’embers of the public. A vote of thanks was accorded Mr Paterson for his address.