The Secret Life Of Wasps

These stripy, stingy insects are very beneficial to the garden – but treat them with respect!

- Julian Rollins

You can’t always pick your neighbours, but it’s usually possible for both parties to come to an understanding so you rub along without friction...

As a day-to-day experiment in coexistence, I’m sharing space with a wasp colony. That’s why I now skip down the flight of steps to my shed ready to turn tail and run, if needs be. In the past, it’s a situation I’ve acted early to avoid. In spring, the nest that a wasp queen makes for her first worker brood is no more than the size of a golf ball, so it’s easy enough to destroy.