You may have seen more wasps outside your home home or cottage this summer due to the early warm spring in the southern Manitoba this year.

Terry Galloway, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Entomology in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba tells us wasps are a social insect. The queen wasp mates in the fall and spends the entire winter in the soil or a leaflet protected from the cold.

“The queen wasps emerge from their shelter in spring and are responsible for an entire colony population. If we have an early spring, the queen wasps start their colony earlier.” Says Professor Galloway. “Like many insects the temperature effects the rate of development. The warmer the weather, the more quickly the insects develop.”

According to Professor Galloway there are two groups of wasps. One group builds aerial nests like paper mache, and the other group builds sub terrainian nests under steps, or in pre existing holes in the ground. 

He notes that later in summer, the wasps need carbohydrates to have energy to fly around. That's when you'll notice wasps at your picnic, in sugary beverages or in garbage cans. He cautions that children should not be drinking from pop cans outdoors as wasps can crawl in and sting a child in the mouth or throat which can be life threatening. Sugary beverages should be poured into a cup so if a wasp falls in, it can be seen before it can sting. He adds that wasps don't have barbs on their stingers so you can be stung several times by one wasp.