Bugs and beasties

Some are beneficial, others not so much.  In early summer, common wasps (vespula vulgaris) are actually on the beneficial side of the fence as they eat nectar, pollinating plants.  They collect aphids, caterpillars and flies for the larvae in the nest.  However, they also noisily strip wood from fences and benches to help create these beautiful nests.

The larger queen wasp lays up to 100 eggs a day in these nests and the adult workers are all female which will go out to find food for the next generation of larvae.  They are rewarded with a sugary droplet from the larva they feed.  This means as summer moves into autumn and there are fewer larvae to feed, wasps seek their sugar fixes elsewhere, thus becoming a nuisance to us.

At this time, the queen will start laying up to 1500 queen eggs, along with male drone eggs.  Once these have hatched, they will couple up with mates from other nests.  The male drones will die off while the now fertilised queens will overwinter to start the cycle in the spring.

One such site for a nest this year was one of our compost bins.  TMTC began emptying the first bin and discovered a small nest. 

Closer inspection reveals the intricate cells containing the next generation of wasps.

The birds enjoyed picking out the larvae.

A lot of wee beasties have been busy in the composting area.  We have 4 bins that we spend all year filling with prunings, clippings, leaves and fruit & veg waste from the kitchen.

The compost was sifted and matter yet to decompose put back into the compost bin.  The last bin was also emptied, sifted and again, matter yet to rot down put into the first bin.

Out of just two bins, we've gained almost two pop up hoppers full of lovely crumbly friable garden compost. 

Some of the compost has been added around the base of key plants after being given a watering can full, to help lock in moisture and try to help them cope with the drought.  The other two compost bins will be tackled in the coming weeks in the same manner.

It's not an easy task and can be back breaking, but so worth all that effort.