Yorkshire Post

The medieval idea to take the sting out of summer

To most people it is a menacing problem that resurfaces every summer and drives them to despair, but now a medieval solution to the nuisance of wasps has been revived and is capturing the imagination of people all over the world.

The Original Waspinator is a bag that looks like a wasps' nest and can be hung up outside, it is a simple idea that works by making wasps believe it is an enemy nest so they stay away for fear of being attacked and killed by the nest's defenders.

In medieval times, people used to make the fake nests out of old bits of cloth and the idea has been rediscovered by Hugh Brumfitt and Richard Piddocke of Waspinator Ltd. They launched Waspinator in January, and since then have been inundated with orders and inquiries about the product.

Mr Piddocke said: €œIt's not what it is that's so special, but what it does and how it does it. Design is very important. To the visual spectrum of a wasp it looks fibrous and layered, like a real wasps nest with light grey and dark grey striations. It stops wasps coming within five metres of where it is hanging. It is a really good product: it really works, it doesn't harm the wasps, it is maintenance free, and it is ecologically friendly. There is nothing else like it that you can buy.€

Mr Piddocke said: €œIt has really taken off in a way we were not expecting. We thought it would be a fairly slow process, but it has taken us by storm.€

The idea came to them last autumn when they heard a radio feature about how medieval people used to keep the wasps at bay. They have since registered intellectual property rights throughout the EU.

Mr Piddocke and Mr Brumfitt founded their company Waspinator Ltd and launched the product in January 2008 at the DIY and Garden Show at Earls Court in London. It was immediately spotted by TV celebrity gardener David Domoney, who featured it on ITV's This Morning programme.

Since then, the company has received a flood of orders and enquiries from both individuals and retailers across Europe wanting more information.

Mr Piddocke said: €œInitially, we saw it as a domestic product but we have had enquiries from all sorts of places we hadn't thought about, including schools, pubs, restaurants with al fresco eating areas, camping and caravanning sites, and many others.€

Unlike conventional traps, there are no sticky substances or chemicals used, and the wasps are nor trapped or harmed in any way. There is no maintenance involved, no cleaning, no refilling, in fact you just hang it up and that's it.



To find out more, visit www.waspinator.co.uk or call 0113 8154994