The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Hovering wasps put sting in outdoor plans

As she swatted a yellow jacket away from her soda, Newcomb balcony diner Sonia Gosain grimaced.

"They're like telemarketers, they just won't go away," said the second-year College student.

Gosain and other diners will be kept busy swatting this time of year, when swarms of yellow jackets and hornets descend upon dumpsters, trash cans and hapless diners around Grounds.

During the summer months, wasps and hornets stay at their nests. In the fall, because the Queen is no longer laying eggs, the "worker" wasps and hornets have no reason to stay home, said Tim Tignor, a forest health specialist in the Charlottesville Department of Forestry.

This time of year, "the workers sort of become marauders," Tignor said.

The wasps plaguing the University are workers with essentially nothing to do.

"They are in a process of dying," Tignor said. Because it's so late in the year, he explained, the yellow jackets and hornets "aren't collecting food for the young anymore."

They're attracted to rotting food and sugar -- and at the University, both of these elements are in rich enough supply to make Grounds seem like a Club Med for wasps and hornets.

"There was a glass of orange juice on the balcony, and the bees kept falling in the juice. There was a layer of bees half an inch thick in the glass," third-year College student Hans Woodriff said.

The wasps are running out of time.

Most of them will die when the first frost comes, Tignor said.

But for the people who enjoy eating outside, or those who just happen to set down an unfinished Coke bottle for a few minutes, this is little consolation.

"I don't eat outside when it's sunny because of the bees," said first-year Architecture student Catherine Redfearn, who dined safely at sunset on the Newcomb Hall balcony.

Newcomb Hall employees are just as frustrated with the wasp problem.

"We contacted the exterminator, and he put up 20 traps," Newcomb Location Manager Maureen Jeffers said. In the meantime, she suggested that students take their dishes and trays inside to help cut down on the number of wasps.

Eradicating the wasps has been a major priority for Newcomb employees, who spray down the balcony with scalding water every day between lunch and dinner.

These efforts, however, have yielded only marginal results.

"We even looked for the nests but couldn't find any," Jeffers said. "They're a huge nuisance and a headache for us to clean when they're out there."

Even though most of the wasps should die within the next month, students are still exasperated.

But believe it or not, they're actually harmless.

"When they're away from the nest, they tend not to be as aggressive," Tignor said. "If you stand near a dumpster swarming with them, they're very unlikely to sting."

Even if they are laid-back wasps, the Newcomb Hall balcony will not be the same until they're gone.

"I pretty much eat inside. I don't want to get stung," first-year College student Will Golden said, echoing the thoughts of many disgruntled students who want to enjoy the outdoors in peace.

Second-year College student Jasmin Jinivizian agreed. "But I did save one," she said. "He was drowning in my coffee."

As the University bundles up for the first of fall chills this week, the wasps will likely start dying, and the balcony will once again become free to outside diners.

Comments

Latest Podcast

The University’s Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admission, Greg Roberts, provides listeners with an insight into how the University conducts admissions and the legal subtleties regarding the possible end to the consideration of legacy status.



https://open.spotify.com/episode/02ZWcF1RlqBj7CXLfA49xt