Concern grows over coastal wasp swarms

FURTHER anxiety is being expressed over the number of wasp swarms bothering bathers, and people drinking and eating in bars and restaurants around the coast of Majorca, Tomeu Gual, President of the Native Bee Association said yesterday.

Gual said that it only takes someone to drop a piece of fruit on the sand and wasps will home in on it in a matter of seconds. He explained that in high summer when natural sources of food and drink in the wild are scarce, wasps are tempted to share the sweet drinks that the tourist community enjoys so freely out in the open air.

Gual said that it is not a question of there being more wasps than before, what is happening is that people are taking food and drink down to the beach in ever increasing quantities. “That is what is attracting the insects,” he affirmed.

At the hottest times of the day, said Gual, the wasps move about in swarms of around 50 in number, and this has caused near panic on some of the smaller beaches. But he pointed out that the Balearic Health Service has confirmed that increased presence of the insects hasn't resulted in higher numbers of people ending up in hospital out-patients departments suffering from stings.

Pharmacies however, are selling more products to treat stings and chemicals to trap wasps, Gual acknowledged.