Round 2 : Awarded to the Wasps.

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Last night the branch of the apricot tree that had the European wasp nest entrance snapped off.

Somewhere, a choir of little heavenly wasps is sniggering at me.
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Uh-oh!

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My apricot tree is loaded with fruit. They are just starting to ripen and we may, may, have some ripe for tomorrow, Christmas Day.

May.

But I found the local birds were on the case as well and the wattlebirds were devaluing my crop; when it comes to ripe and wattlebirds, near enough is good enough apparently. I recruited my resident stepladder (aka Simon) and spread birdnetting over the tree.

While I was tying it down I made a discovery:

Insects had built a nest in the trunk of the tree. Rats!

And or, more accurately, wasps!

Or even more accurately, European wasps!

So, primed on how to deal with them, I stole some red cellophane off a present under the tree and taped it to my torch. Apparently wasps can't see red. Funny how English has the term 'seeing red' for when someone is angry. I was about to make them very angry but still hopeful that they would not see me in the red gloamin* of my torch. And from a safe distance and ready to run, I squirted the contents of a can of 'Wasp-rid R Us' at the entrance in the tree while trying to block a sudden but quite relevant question from my mind: Is there more than one entrance?

The entrance is now quiet.

I hope the nest does not mean that the tree is totally rotten inside now; its days may be numbered.

If the can of insecticide doesn't kill it in the meantime, of course.

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*Gloamin is the tid o day whan it is nae fell daurk thareoot, but the sun is nae up.
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