In some years wasps were exceedingly troublesome at Aldington, and fruit picking became a hazardous business.  One of my men ploughed up a nest in an open field, and was badly stung, though the horses, being further from the nest when turned up, escaped.  It is quite necessary to destroy any nests on or near land where fruit is grown, as the insects increase in numbers at a surprising rate, and they travel great distances after food for the grubs.  I had an instructive walk over the fruit farm of my son-in-law, Mr. C.S.  Martin, of Dunnington Heath, near Alcester, with his cousin, Mr. William Martin, who is extraordinarily clever at locating the nests.  He quickly recognizes a line of flight in which numbers of wasps can be seen going backwards and forwards, in a well-defined cross-country track, follows it up and locates the nest a long distance from where he first perceived the line.  In this way during our walk he found a dozen or more nests.  In the evening, when the inmates were at home, they were treated with a strong solution of cyanide of potassium to destroy the winged insects; and the next day the nests were dug out and the grubs destroyed, which otherwise would become perfect wasps.

Lately it has become a custom to pay a half-penny each for all queen wasps in the spring, but Mr. C.S.  Martin, who had many years’ experience on the fruit plantations of the Toddington Orchard Company, extending to about 700 acres, as well as on his own plantations at Dunnington, writes to me as follows on the subject: 

“To catch the queens in the spring is to my mind a waste of time, and I discontinued paying for their capture, as the number visible in the spring appeared to bear no relation to the resulting summer nests.  In the first place, the number of queens in spring is always greatly in excess of the numbers of nests, and to attempt to catch all the queens is a hopeless job.  As a rule, I don’t think one per cent, ever gets as far as a nest unless the weather conditions are very favourable.  Heavy rain, when the broods begin, may easily wipe out 99 per cent., and only those on a dry bank will survive.  To pay a halfpenny per queen may be equivalent to the payment of four and twopence per nest!”

Referring to the payment of school-children for the destruction of white butterflies he writes: 

“The white butterfly is extraordinarily prolific, and to catch a few in the garden is a complete waste of time.  Again, weather conditions are largely responsible for the occurrence of a bad attack, and the only possible time to reduce the plague is in the caterpillar stage, with hellebore powder, or one of the proprietary remedies, applied to the young plants.  Scientists recommend the catching of queen wasps, and also butterflies, but I regard this as a case where science is not strictly practical.”

There is, of course, the danger, too, that children will not recognize the difference between the female