I miss my wasps

[Nick Maclaren]

I have never needed to net kohl-rabi against cabbage whites before,
because the wasps kept them enough under control that a few squishing
sessions was adequate. But this year, their leaves are in tatters,
I have squished hundreds of caterpillars and seen only a very few
solitary wasps. A tray of cut-and-come-again pak choi in the
greenhouse was a write-off, because I couldn't spot the caterpillars
in the thicket.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[Janet]

In article <v92h4m$hr8$***@dont-email.me>, ***@wheeler.UUCP
says...

Post by Nick Maclaren
I have never needed to net kohl-rabi against cabbage whites before,
because the wasps kept them enough under control that a few squishing
sessions was adequate. But this year, their leaves are in tatters,
I have squished hundreds of caterpillars and seen only a very few
solitary wasps. A tray of cut-and-come-again pak choi in the
greenhouse was a write-off, because I couldn't spot the caterpillars
in the thicket.
Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I have only seen one butterfly so far this year, and it
was a cabbage white. I haven't seen any wasps at all,
yet. Not a many bees, and few of them are honeybees.

Grateful for caterpillarless brassicas, but such a
dearth of insects is weird and worrying.

Janet

[Chris Hogg]

Post by Janet
says...

Post by Nick Maclaren
I have never needed to net kohl-rabi against cabbage whites before,
because the wasps kept them enough under control that a few squishing
sessions was adequate. But this year, their leaves are in tatters,
I have squished hundreds of caterpillars and seen only a very few
solitary wasps. A tray of cut-and-come-again pak choi in the
greenhouse was a write-off, because I couldn't spot the caterpillars
in the thicket.
Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I have only seen one butterfly so far this year, and it
was a cabbage white. I haven't seen any wasps at all,
yet. Not a many bees, and few of them are honeybees.
Grateful for caterpillarless brassicas, but such a
dearth of insects is weird and worrying.
Janet

I've only seen Cabbage Whites in West Cornwall this year, no Red
Admirals or Small tortoiseshells, let alone to less common types. Even
house flies are much scarcer than in a usual summer. All very odd!

[The Natural Philosopher]

Post by Chris Hogg

Post by Janet
says...

Post by Nick Maclaren
I have never needed to net kohl-rabi against cabbage whites before,
because the wasps kept them enough under control that a few squishing
sessions was adequate. But this year, their leaves are in tatters,
I have squished hundreds of caterpillars and seen only a very few
solitary wasps. A tray of cut-and-come-again pak choi in the
greenhouse was a write-off, because I couldn't spot the caterpillars
in the thicket.
Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I have only seen one butterfly so far this year, and it
was a cabbage white. I haven't seen any wasps at all,
yet. Not a many bees, and few of them are honeybees.
Grateful for caterpillarless brassicas, but such a
dearth of insects is weird and worrying.
Janet

I've only seen Cabbage Whites in West Cornwall this year, no Red
Admirals or Small tortoiseshells, let alone to less common types. Even
house flies are much scarcer than in a usual summer. All very odd!

Wind turbines mashed em all.

[o***@btinternet.com]

Post by Nick Maclaren
I have never needed to net kohl-rabi against cabbage whites before,
because the wasps kept them enough under control that a few squishing
sessions was adequate. But this year, their leaves are in tatters,
I have squished hundreds of caterpillars and seen only a very few
solitary wasps. A tray of cut-and-come-again pak choi in the
greenhouse was a write-off, because I couldn't spot the caterpillars
in the thicket.
Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Very few this year
--

[Jeff Layman]

Post by Nick Maclaren
I have never needed to net kohl-rabi against cabbage whites before,
because the wasps kept them enough under control that a few squishing
sessions was adequate. But this year, their leaves are in tatters,
I have squished hundreds of caterpillars and seen only a very few
solitary wasps. A tray of cut-and-come-again pak choi in the
greenhouse was a write-off, because I couldn't spot the caterpillars
in the thicket.

I don't miss wasps at all. They might help stop damage to brassicas, but
they are annoyingly destructive to top fruit. I wouldn't mind if they
nibbled away at a few apples, but they seem to go out of their way to
spoil numerous fruits by taking small bites out of lots of different
ones. They also pester me when I'm in the garden, and I'm no threat. I
much prefer hornets, who never bother me or, as far as I'm aware, damage
any fruit, although that might change if the Asian hornet gets well
established!

It'll be interesting to see how many wasps are around next year. If
there are few wasps in general, I assume that means few queen wasps as
well. So next year there might not be many.

Very few butterflies or other flying insects too. The buddleias are
uncharacteristically bare.