Why do wasps sting?

Answer

Dear Kim,

Wasps have been present in our nature since spring, yet they only cause trouble from mid-summer. This is because wasps live in colonies (such as bees and bumblebees), however from high summer these colonies are at their peak and produce new queens. These fly out to burrow for the winter and the old queen dies. The whole nest falls apart and chaos breaks out. From then on, all remaining wasps (the worker bees of the colony) have to try to survive on their own until they eventually die as a result of predators (natural enemies) or too low temperatures in the autumn. So they are aggressive because they no longer have a goal and are desperately looking for food. This is not the case with bees as they have a colony all year round, they only become aggressive if you step on them or disturb the colony itself.