Personaklly I wouldn't deter them . Wasps kill loads of bug pests and bees pollinate flowers.

Bees are in danger - and as Anchorman says, they pollinate flowers - and not only the ones in our gardens! Think of all the veggies that need pollinating. We must all encourage bees. Wasps....hmmm...I'd say the odd ones are fine and useful, but if you had a wasps' nest in your house or garden, I'd want it gone. :-(

We shift wasps nests if they are in places where there is a lot of activity otherwise we let them live. They do far too much good work to destroy unless it is vital. Bulba is allergic to wasp and bee stings so we do have to be a bit careful... in other words if a byke has to go I'm the one who puffs the powder!

I have to confess to a real concern that so many folk wish to kill wasps and bees or at least keep them out of their garden... Given all the good work they do I'll suffer the extremely occasional sting from a wasp. Bees are usually far to busy to sting anyone and die if they do so.

I am extremely tolerant of wasps. I work as a professional gardener and have only been stung once in 20 years.

Wasps leave you alone if you ignore them. People who get hysterical and flap their hands around are far more likely to be stung.

Many of the apples on my tree drop off and rot and the wasps =have one last drunken feast on them before they die in winter.

I watched literally hundreds of them with my head no more than a foot away and they didn't harm me at all.

Herte's a close up i took from perhaps 4 inches away of wasps on a rotting apple

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31559373@N00/3798206113/

I agree with moongrower have any wasp nest removed in close proximity(proffesionally) but the bees i would welcome ,not just for, the obvious reasons but theyll benefit your garden.Wasps become more of a pest late summer but theyll mop up pests until.

I don't use a professional... if the byke is in an area that we constantly work in I simply puff the tracking powder into the nest late afternoon. I might add I HATE doing this and it is only done in if B is in serious danger of being stung...

A total aside, before we removed our Gean, wild cherry tree, it used to drop fruits all over the working area of the garden. Walking round in flip flops one day a slightly drunk wasp flew into my foot, got distressed and stung me between my toes! I can advise this is extremely uncomfortable! But I lived to tell the tale, which is more than the wasp did!

Hi there,

We get all manner of wee flying beasties in our garden, hornets, field digger wasps, two types of wasp, and loads of bees.

As gardeners we should all be encouraging them in, and as moongrowe says we should all be careful not to get stung if allergic.

The only time I find wasps a pain ( sorry no pun intended) is when we eat outside in august and early September, one sniff of food and they seem to appear from no where!
I have to admit to using a honey trap on the patio table, but that's only because I run screaming whilst telling the children to remain calm and not to flap at them.
I.'m not a great role model.
But apart from that, it's live and let live.

Happy gardening.

Wasps not so easy, and a nest is not to be tolerated, but if you want to discourage bees and other pollinating insects, only grow double flowered forms of plants - these are sterile and don't produce pollen, so no pollen collectors come along.