Western Australia working to eradicate European wasp
Marc Widmer, a senior technical officer with DAFWA, told ABC Radio Perth that generally the department destroyed about 30 European wasp nests a year, but in the past two years that number had risen to more than 80. "The pressure is on," he said.
DAFWA believes that the wasps find their way into the country when queens stow away on shipments into Australia where they go on to establish their own nests. The wasps go on to harm local farms and destroy bee colonies.
"They destroy beehive nests, so the pollination and honey industry suffers," he said.
"For the soft fruit industries, like grapes and stone fruit, they break the skin of the fruit so it rots on the vines.
"Our charter here at the Department of Agriculture ... is to find every single nest that starts each season and knock it out before it matures and releases queens," Mr Widmer said.
source: abc.net.au
