Levi Brandenburg
Contributing Writer
Issac Ash
Contributing Writer
Following the reports of bedbugs in Regents College, some students are now encountering wasps in residential colleges.
The News received an anonymous report from a student living in Elizabeth College who said they had killed over two dozen wasps in their room this semester.
“The first wasp was discovered at the beginning of the semester and since then, my roommate and I have killed at least 25,” the student said.
To avoid the wasp problem, the student went home last weekend after submitting a work order to Facilities Management. Despite completion of the work order, the student found more wasps after the weekend.
“While I was home I got an email saying they have completed the work order,” the student said. “Since I have been here on Sunday evening, I killed three more wasps.”
Chad Parks, manager of Servall Pest Control, said the behavior wasps and other pests is heavily driven by the weather and temperature.
“When winter comes around, red paper wasps – which I imagine these are–seek out warm and compact places to nest and it’s very hard to prevent them from doing this,” Parks said. “They make their nests out of porous materials like wood so they can and will chew through patches… Now that it’s warming up, they’re coming out to look for food.”
Red paper wasps, or red wasps, are one of the most common wasp species in areas like Murray and can build nests large enough to contain thousands. Unlike bees, they can and will sting multiple times if threatened.
As well as being known for nesting near humans, these wasp nests can last for years, continually getting bigger and producing more wasps.
“It can be difficult to predict how long wasps will live,” Parks said. “Depending on the species, they normally live for about a month, but the queen can live for up to a year and create thousands of wasps to grow a nest that spans her entire life before passing the nest down.”
Other students have also had to deal with wasp encounters in Elizabeth College.
“I’ve seen them near the pool table in my dorm in the last few days,” said Robert Messman, freshman from Anchorage, Alaska. “I’ve already killed about six of them and I’ll probably end up killing more. I haven’t gotten stung yet though.”
Despite the common belief that wasps are always angry and will sting for no reason, oftentimes they will not attack at all unless provoked. Most of the time, stings are completely avoidable.
If stung, Health Services recommends applying a cold compress to the area to reduce swelling and pain. If allergic, seek immediate medical attention in order to prevent a dangerous allergic reaction.
