What is it with European bakeries and bees? I’ve seen memes and stuff about it, and this one youtuber, a Vietnamese woman who’s German BF never shows his face, I can’t remember her name right now. She showed a bakery in Germany with bees everywhere. Why is this a thing?
Wouldn’t traps near the food be a bigger concern than wasps taking a bite? Idk I live in Germany so I might be desensitized. The way I see it wasp-free pastry is preferable but if they decide to help themselves then oh well. They don’t soak the food in spit and they don’t lay eggs on it, they just nibble.
When eating outside we sometimes set up an “Opferteller” with left overs and put out to the side so the wasps have their thing going on that plate and we can continue to eat. It’s fascinating to watch but at the same time I’m scared shitless since I had a very bad experience with nest defending wasps and my long hair as a child…
I do the same thing and then I just move slowly as not to squish or slap them accidentaly. Works much better than shooing them 😄 Wasps have a bad reputation but they’re useful and kinda cool honestly.
Where I live, it is considered a community service to kill wasps. Seriously. Gotta die.
It’s straight up illegal here 😅
Fascinating. Its not that I have some obsession with killing wasps, but its something I do immediately. When I see nests, I eliminate them. I will tell the property owner, “You’re welcome.”
Compared to (my impression of) north America I think there are some contributing factors:
- Less sprawl: Bakeries are usually in a town/neighborhood (which has more nature compared to the US, therefore also more insects) and not surrounded by a huge parking lot where no wasps would live. There are also many neigbouhring properties with different owners/occupants. So their nest might nor be on your property or even somewhere where you’d be able to locate it.
- (more) indipendent shops: I see waaaay less wasps in the baked good section in supermarkets here as well. Bakeries are usually not huge so it is just a short distance for the wasps to fly in a confinded space. Bakeries are also not usually airconditioned which would probably irritate wasps.
- conservation laws: Wasps are considerd a protected species in Germany and catching, harming or killing them without a proper reason can carry a fine of up to 5-65k€ depending on the kind of wasp and the state. In general wasp nests can only be moved by professional and licenced exterminators (and they only do it when necessary, like the nest being near a kindergarten or in an occupied builduing).
I think Europe and surrounding countries do a lot of shit right, but some things like protecting wasps and making melatonin prescription genuinely baffle me. What the fuck
Fuk wasps.
Can’t say I’d be delighted about this, but they’ll very quickly leave when the food’s disturbed and wasps - like bees - don’t leave behind diseases or eggs. The same cannot be said for flies - if those were flies I wouldn’t touch anything in the shop.
My experience with wasps are different. They’ll fucking attack you it you’re anywhere near their food.
These are the wasps that I know and destroy.
Africanised bees will be like that, but we don’t really have them in europe as far as I know.
Wasps usually only get really stingy if you disturb their nest or come way too close to it.
You’ll find wasps in almost any bakery in summer. Also in and around garbage cans.
You grab the pastry and they will usually fly away and settle onto the next one a bit later.
There seems to be a vast gulf here. American wasps will fukin attack you for fun. So you kill them first.
Do they really attack on sight?
Here it’s usually that they seek out the breath because of the monoxide and people start panicking because the ly fly into their face and seemingly wont go away. So they Start swinging their arms at the wasp and it feels in danger and attacks.
Easiest solution is to hold breath and walk away if they bother you.
If you are too close to the nest, they will send out scouts, and then you can expect an attack. Kill them first.
Wait, this is a common occourrence? It’s normal to see wasps on pastries?
I’m from germany, and it indeed is in summer, even in large cities. Wasps come in with the customers and wont leave.
Do German wasps attack you unprovoked like ours do?
Apparently that’s a myth according to every source I could find about wasps in the US.
They seek out your breath, so people start panicking swinging wildly and running away, which in return might be considered a threat for the wasp.
Hold your breath and walk away.
Killed wasps on the other hand attract other wasps out for revenge, if the nest is somewhere nearby.
The nest is my primary target. Cover up, knock it down, destroy it, walk away for a bit, they all leave. Fuk wasps.
Hmm. When you consulted “every source I could find about wasps in the US” apparently you chose to disregard the direct feedback of people on the front line. Hmm.
