So we have a pear tree in our back yard that decided this was the year it was going to successfully bear fruit.
Its been extremely dry and we’ve been away a lot so I haven’t cut the grass in about 8 weeks. I didn’t even notice the tree had ripe fruit on it until yesterday. Stoked to check it out I walked over to pick some and noticed there’s about ten full grown pears rotting on the ground below the tree that are just absolutely infested with wasps.
The tree is near our fence with the neighbors so I gotta deal with this fast so they don’t get overwhelmed by wasps.
Does anyone know of a safe way to approach this? I broke my ribs and fucked up my back on a dirt bike last weekend so I can’t exactly do anything that requires quick reactions or running away.
Any ideas would be super helpful 🙏
I’m guessing that you’re in the US and have strange rules about eliminating nature from your gardens… I’d just leave them to it. Wasps actually do a really important job and most of the time they just go about their own business. This time of year is hard for them as their preferred food has gone so they seek sugar, any sugar to survive, but the windfalls won’t last forever and then the wasps themselves will also be gone until the spring.
The only time I’d deal with wasps is if there was a nest either in my house or shed, or by a door that I need to use. They’re fascinating creatures when you get a chance to watch them.
Enjoy the nature, there’s not much of it around nowadays.
Thanks for your feedback. I’m in Canada and as far as I know there are no laws or rules about this, but I don’t want my neighbors to be harassed by wasps, nor am I happy with how many of them harass me on my deck at the moment. I’m not looking to exterminate them, rather safely pick up the fruit and chuck it into a field next to my house so that they’re further away from us.
I just don’t want to risk being attacked by them if I try to move the fruit, y’know? I can’t safely run or even shoo them away right now due to the pain of my injuries.
They don’t want to sting you.
Pick the fruit up in the earlyish morning when it’s cool. Do it carefully so you’re not squashing any wasps that are about and you should be fine.
Move slowly and don’t ‘flap’.
Unless you have health problems a couple of stings are painful, but not that bad.
Not long ago I had a Queen wasp fall into my T-shirt resulting in five stings on my back. I dosed up on antihistamines and was OK in an hour or so. - yes, the wasp was captured and safely released.
Maybe they don’t “want” to sting anyone, but wasps can be very territorial and aggressive. Every time I’ve ever been stung by a wasp, I was minding my own business and just happened to piss one off by existing nearby.
Use a tool with a long handle, like a shovel or one of those grabber things, to pick up the wasp-y pears and throw them in the desired direction. Wear protective clothing (long pants, long sleeves, gloves, hat, bandanna wrapped around your face, IDK) if you’re overly paranoid about stings.
You could use something more enticing to attract them to another location.
Unrelated wasps seem to prefer prosciutto over any other item on a spread filled with meats and cheeses.
I would say leave the fruit where it is for now, pickup and throw out anything they are not currently devouring, and then leave something sweet or salty in another area somewhere.
This is the Way.
I got video a couple of days ago of a wasp plucking a fly off a horse’s leg and flying away with it. Wild stuff!
deleted by creator