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102
Fear of the wasp is often misplaced for they rarely sting unless
they are roused or frightened and, contrary to popular belief, wasps
are not entirely harmful for in Spring and early Summer they feed
mainly on insects, many of which are themselves injurious. However,
after mid-summer their diet becomes more vegetarian and the
workers feed on ripening fruit and other sweet substances, thus
effecting serious damage in orchards, sugar warehouses, grain
factories, etc., where they cause considerable wastage of goods.
In houses they become a nuisance during cooking and at meal times
and it is conceivable that they are instrumental in the spread of food
poisoning.
The queen wasp, the only survivor from the previous year's
colony, emerges from hibernation in the Spring to choose a site for
nesting, usually in cavity walls, lofts, under roof tiles and other sites
which evoke a certain ingenuity on the part of the disinfestors in
order satisfactorily to deal with the nuisance.
Thirty complaints regarding this pest were received and during
the year some 49 nests were destroyed, mainly by means of HCN
gas generated from purpose-made proprietary powder. This was
an increase of 8 over last year.

Twenty-six requests for spraying for other reasons such as
bad smells, offensive deposits, etc., were met by a further 38 treatments
to 192 rooms and 5 external areas.
Precautionary Spraying. During the year, 718 requests were
received for the collection and disposal of unwanted bedding,
furniture and miscellaneous household effects. In each instance
the items were sprayed as a precautionary measure prior to removal
by the Borough Engineer's refuse disposal section and this involved
the treatment of a further 795 rooms and 210 external areas.