Nests have been keeping pest controllers
busy |
Pest
controllers in Northern Ireland have received hundreds of calls from
householders worried about swarms of wasps.
It appears southern areas and mid Ulster are the worst hit.
There have been hundreds of call-outs for pest controllers in the
area stretching from Dungannon in County Tyrone to Newry in County
Down.
They are so busy, callers are having to wait up to a week to have
nests destroyed.
Pest control officers say they are being rushed off their feet -
wiping them out.
Pest controller Francie Gilleece said: "We have been quite busy
over the past number of weeks.
"In the last week we would have been attending to about 10 wasps'
nests a day... we have seven calls in today so far."
Councils have been inundated with calls from homes and businesses
across the west.
Robert Forde of Fermanagh District Council said: "Certainly this
year, to date, we would have had more wasps' nests than we would
have had for the whole of last year.
"We would still be expecting to have quite a few nests treated
coming into the end of August and September."
There has also been an increase in the number of people needing
hospital treatment for stings.
Dr Samuel McBride of the Erne Hospital said: "The worst we have
had - not so much multiple stings - are people drinking soft drinks
from cups and a wasp being in a cup and being stung on the tongue or
the lip.
"They are in danger and they need to be admitted for observation
and given appropriate drug treatment."
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