For many people, wasps are one of the most feared insects in the home garden or on the balcony. You've barely sat down with a piece of cake and there they are: wasps buzzing around the table. Such a meeting can end with one or more stitches. For allergy sufferers, the sting is not only painful but can also be dangerous. Certain home remedies can help ensure that your time outdoors doesn't end so badly. For example, clove oil against wasps.
First of all: wasps are protected insects. According to the law you can't disturb them, catch them or kill them. Removing the wasp nest is only permitted in exceptional cases.
The wasps as beneficial insects in the garden
Wasps are not actually pests, but rather fulfill several important functions in the home garden. The larvae are fed primarily with other insects. A small colony of wasps can kill thousands of mosquitoes, aphids, flies and others every dayDestroy pests.
DieWasps can through pollinationPlants in the home garden also help, although they do this less effectively than bees.
And why do wasps so often disrupt eating, especially in August? In late summer, the German wasp and the common wasp in particular try to eat a high-energy diet. Sweets contain saccharides that provide insects with the energy they need.
Clove oil against wasps: Can you use it to repel insects?
If wasps suddenly circle around the garden table, the most important thing you should do is stay calm. The wasps are protected and must not be killed. Waving your fingers doesn't help either and can even have the opposite effect: it makes the insects aggressive and they send help signals to the other wasps in their wasp colony.
But what can really be done against it?Wasps eatinghelp? You should have something that will get rid of the wasps. They react strongly to scents, so you can keep them away with various fragrance oils.
However, if the insects are hungry, several drops of scented oils will not be enough to keep the insects away from the garden table. Provide them with an alternative food source. For example, you can fill a bowl with sugar water and place it in the garden. It is best to choose a place that is far away from the seating area. Ideally near a bee-friendly flower bed.
Repel wasps with clove oil: the correct application
Clove oil is one of the home remedies that are not harmful to insects and can effectively repel them. This method has many advantages:
- The wasps are not disturbed, injured or killed. They can still return to the nest undisturbed.
- The clove oil works on a limited area (seating area, balcony, small terrace) and drives away the insects. They change the direction of flight and learn to avoid sitting in the garden.
- You can enjoy afternoon coffee outdoors.
This is how you can use clove oil correctly:
1. Place a piece of linen fabric or cotton in a small bowl. Add between 5 and 10 drops of clove oil to the fabric. Place the bowl on the table.
2. After each use, clean the shell and wash the fabric or change it with new one.
3. Use the bowl with the fabric only when necessary (when sitting outside).
Home remedies with clove oil against wasps: This is how you can prevent a wasp nest from being built
You need:
- a spray bottle
- A mix of the following fragrance oils: 10 drops of clove oil, 5 drops of geranium oil, 3 drops of lemongrass oil
- Seifenwasser
Add the fragrance oils to the soapy water and pour the solution into the spray bottle. Spray the area around the garden table, as well as any areas nearby where the insects could build a wasp nest. These include, for example, a false roof, a garden house, cracks and gaps in retaining walls, etc
Tips against wasps: How to keep the insects away
- Clean up the garden table. Never leave leftover food there for a long time.
- Check the outdoor area for burrows. In late summer, immediately after mating, the young queens look for safe winter quarters. Burrows are particularly attractive to them - they will spend the winter there and build a wasp nest next year.
- If you notice wasps around the garden table or balcony seat, do not kill them or try to hurt them. On the one hand because it is forbidden by law, but on the other hand because an injured wasp sends warning signals to the other wasps through pheromones.
- If you still kill a wasp, clean the area with soapy water.
- If the wasps don't react to the clove oil, then you candry flowersput in the bowl.
