Manchester & Trafford Pest Control

As kids we were warned not to poke at wasps nests by our elders (and sometimes betters), writes John Barrington-Carver.

Having been stung a couple of times myself without so much as having even looked at the dratted insect I have always heeded this sage advice.

It’s a pity therefore that the EU has ignored the current angry stirrings emanating from aviation’s international hive of industry. This followed Brussels’ earlier unilateral decision to include all international airlines using EU airspace in its existing EU Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), thereby exacting an estimated €1.4 billion annual tribute to the EU’s coffers.

The scheme, implemented from 1 January, levies a charge on flights in EU airspace based on carbon emissions. An initial consequence when the scheme was originally announced was that the US challenged the legality of the ETS at the European Court of Justice.

Subsequently, the Chinese threatened to cancel their Airbus orders thus endangering thousands of jobs.

It’s perhaps not surprising, since the case was heard in the EU Court of Justice, that the US lost the case last month. Bolstered by the Court decision, the EU continues to blithely ignore these and other objections to the ETS.

Consequences for consumers are that yet another tax will be passed on to them by airlines which operate on wafer-thin margins.

However, “poking a nest” by unilaterally trying to impose legislation and taxes on other sovereign states will certainly have further consequences. More opposition is growing as 43 countries have already publicly objected to the EU plans.

Both China and India have already instructed their airlines not to comply and similar legislation is moving through the US Congress. Reportedly further legal challenges are in the pipeline. China has claimed that the plan could cost Chinese airlines €95m in extra annual costs. British Airways faces a bill of nearly €50m, the highest of any airline.

Unsurprisingly, the International Airline Association (IATA) representing 93 per cent of the world’s airlines has labelled the EU “Tax Bandits”.

It’s not that the aviation industry objects to being in an emissions trading scheme – far from it! The air transport industry has made global commitments to improve fuel efficiency by 1.5 per cent annually to 2020, to cap net emissions from 2020 and to cut net emissions in half by 2050 (compared to 2005 levels). IATA has also championed an international initiative by the United Nations’ ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) which already has 120 or more countries agreeing to it and which would put all airlines on a level international playing field as regards emissions trading.

If the EU are committed to including aviation in some form of carbon trading scheme they should support a global initiative that is ratified internationally rather than go it alone thus endangering EU jobs, international relations and unilaterally extracting fees from international airlines to top up EU coffers. Brussels bureaucrats comfortably isolated from the consequences of poking this particular nest should have a regard for the potential for harm this legislation could do to their individual EU members’ economies if the rest of the world should retaliate as looks very possible.

(Image: alleswasfliegt)

IAN ALLEN

A former Landcare Research scientist is developing a wasp-specific poison that could be sold commercially to help control wasp numbers.

Richard Toft, of Nelson, has spent the past 15 years trying to develop the bait, and believes it could be on the market as early as next summer. “We want to develop a product that is readily available for people to purchase, especially in areas with a high amount of wasps like the Marlborough Sounds,” Mr Toft said. “We are not that far away.”

The density of wasps in the Marlborough Sounds gained national attention with the death of Morris Stretch, 62, on Saturday, after he was attacked by thousands of wasps at Kenepuru.

Mr Toft said the top half of the South Island has the highest density of wasps anywhere in the world, attracted by the honeydew in beech forests.

The bait had to be attractive to wasps yet unattractive to bees. It also had to be entirely protein-based because that’s what wasps share around the nest, and it needed the correct level of toxicity.

“It has to be strong enough so it is lethal in tiny doses when spread around but not too fast-acting that it kills the wasp before returning to the nest.”

Mr Toft set up his own company, Entecol, in 2009.

The company is also testing the use of pathogens, or diseases, in wasp control. “In this case, fungal diseases which are specific to insects,” he said.

“We are trying to deliver this as bait so the wasp takes it back to the nest and spreads the disease. This is a very environmentally friendly approach.

“We are also looking at trapping queens in spring before they have a chance to establish a nest but that is some way off.”

Conservation Department biodiversity threat programme manager Phillip Clerke said at the moment the only way of controlling wasps in the Marlborough Sounds was by destroying individual nests once they were found.

“The biggest problem we have is that there is no insecticide for killing wasps,” he said. “But to control wasps on a larger scale you need to bait, so the pesticide is taken back to the nest. Otherwise you have to find every wasp nest, which is quite problematic.”

Wasp numbers peaked from mid-February to mid-March, Mr Toft said.

A Landcare Research website says there are on average 12 wasp nests per hectare in a beech forest that has honeydew, which equates to about 10,000 workers per hectare. In some areas the number of nests has been as high as 50 to 60 nests per hectare, the equivalent of 25 to 30 nests in an area the size of a football field.

“We estimate that in beech forest with honeydew, the biomass of social wasps (about 1100 g/ha/yr) is greater than that of all the native birds plus stoats and rodents put together,” the site says.

“All those wasps eat huge numbers of native insects and consume large quantities of sugary honeydew. By eating so much, wasps upset the natural food chain of the forest.”

Wasps are either social (living in colonies) or solitary. The latter don’t build nests. Worker wasps are infertile females.

– The Marlborough Express

Saturday is Squirrel Appreciation Day. You may find the middle of winter an odd time of year for such a day, but think about it: Unlike some other mammals I could name (I’m thinking of you, lazy bears),
squirrels don’t hibernate. They’re out there 24/7, living la vida squirrela: climbing trees, foraging for nuts, chittering, trying to get into your attic, getting flattened by steel-belted radials.

In fact, come Jan. 21 — Squirrel Appreciation Day — they are probably running low on food. They could use a paw up. That’s exactly what Richard “Thor” Thorington — the Smithsonian’s squirrel expert — is going to give them.

“We’re going to celebrate tomorrow,” he told me.

How? “By putting out extra sunflower seeds.”

Thor is also scattering cobs of dried corn, a squirrel favorite, outside his Bethesda home. Peanuts would be another treat. (Squirrels have also been known to eat baby sparrows, but those are hard to find at the
This sequined squirrel is ready for the Squirrel Appreciation Day party, if there were such a thing.
(Katherine Frey – The Washington Post)
store this time of year. Or any time of year.)

The scientist said squirrel behavior can change during the chilly months of winter. Many squirrels will move out of their leaf nests — those balls you see high in the branches — and try to find a hollowed-out tree.

“You can stuff a lot of leaves in a hollow tree and have a nice warm place,” Thor said. “I’ve always wondered how waterproof leaf nests were. I guess fairly waterproof, but I’ve never been in one so I don’t
The Bolivian squirrel monkey is not a squirrel. But we could not pass up this opportunity to use a photo of Bolivian squirrel monkeys with sunglasses.
(Ben Stansall – AFP/Getty Images)
know.”

There are more than 280 species of squirrels — from tiny pygmy squirrels to giant flying squirrels — so there are a lot of squirrels to appreciate. Then there are squirrels like this one, rescued by a Louisiana artist and forced to earn its keep by churning out hotel room art:

Last year for Squirrel Appreciation Day the students of Wichita State University put out extra food for their campus squirrels. No word yet on whether Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va. — whose mascot is Gladys the Fighting Squirrel — is doing anything special on Saturday. The National Wildlife Federation suggests various ways you can celebrate, from feeding them to shooting them — with a camera!

Of course, animals as wonderful as Sciuridae — the scientific name for the squirrel family — deserve more than just a single day of appreciation, so mark your calendars for this year’s Squirrel Week, April 8 through 14 in my column.

Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day. May you find yourself surrounded by nuts.

How will you celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll join you.

Q: In early fall, we had a 150-foot silver maple removed from the backyard which had been the home of many squirrel families. Apparently some have taken residence in a very tall juniper and have taken to chewing off the tips of the branches that contain small purple berries.

They are making a real mess on the driveway that has to be cleaned up every other day or the sticky debris gets tracked around on the car tires and our shoes. The tree is too big and tall to spray with an animal deterrent.

Do you know of any type of sound machine that might be annoying enough to keep them away or have any other thoughts?

—Bill Miers

A: By eliminating the maple, you displaced the squirrels and they, very practically, sought refuge nearby, in your juniper. The tips of trees are a preferred food in the late winter and early spring. Berries are, as you know, prime food for many common backyard visitors.

I don’t hold out much hope for totally eliminating your squirrel problem. However, I did find a few recommendations that may help. For a better understanding of your adversary, I suggest reading the Penn State publication: “Wildlife Damage Control 10: Tree Squirrels” (http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh096.pdf).

Sound emitters and ultrasonic deterrents are popularly marketed solutions but there is considerable debate on how effective they really are. If you were planning to use in an enclosed space, say an attic, maybe I’d suggest giving it a try. However, in the open backyard, I doubt they would be effective.

Is the tree standing alone —no nearby trees or buildings to launch off and jump into the branches of the juniper? Is there at least six feet between the lowest branch and the ground? Some suggest a giant squirrel baffle, a tree collar: metal, two feet wide and six feet off the ground but attached with springs or wires to avoid girdling the tree.

You’ve eliminated taste repellents because of the size of the tree.

They work on smaller plants by making tasty greens, stems and bulbs into nasty tasting stuff. I did find a reference to applying sticky stuff to the trunk (polybutenes) but that was described as very messy and if the squirrels live in the tree, this is not a solution for you.

Trapping is not really a solution. If you trap them, you would have to kill them, as relocation is not legal. And in reality, you will never trap all the squirrels in the neighborhood so one batch will be replaced by another.

I fear that the best solution is to get rid of the tree or put up with the mess. I invite readers to offer alternative solutions.

Forcing Cannas

Q: I would like to divide my canna bulbs to fit into 6-inch pots for a fundraiser in late April/early May. The clumps of bulbs are resting in my cool, dry basement loosely surrounded by shredded newspaper. I would like to have about 4-6 inches of growth visible at the time of the fundraiser so that the customers know that they are purchasing a healthy plant. My questions are: How much of the bulb is needed to produce a flower? (Some clumps are quite large).

Should I use a larger container? (I just so happen to have a fair amount of the 6-inch size). When should I put the bulbs into the planting soil to have a 4-6 inch plant by late April? Is regular potting soil OK or should I use a mixture? (Normally, I just put them into my garden).

Will the newly potted plant need water and light immediately or only after a shoot appears? (When I transfer my bulbs — I put them straight into the garden in late April/early May without any previous watering or exposure to light).

—Vicky Richter, Coopersburg

A: My research indicates that you have two options: sprout and then pot or just pot directly. As to the rest of your questions:

•When dividing canna rhizomes (underground stems), each section should have a minimum of two to three eyes (growing points). The cut ends of the rhizome are often dusted with a rooting hormone — the fungicide in the powder will reduce rotting problems.

•The size of the container is determined by the size of the rhizome you pot up. An ideal pot for your project would be a shallow azalea pot — usually about 8 to 10 inches across and about 6 to 7 inches deep.