Wasps and hornets can be a constant problem during the summer months
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An Ilkley man believes he has solved the perennial problem faced by people wanting to enjoy a summer picnic without being plagued by wasps. Hugh Brumfitt has invented a device called the Waspinator which, it is claimed, will keep the insects at bay. Looking like a wasp's nest, Mr Brumfitt said it played on their natural territorial instincts. He said: "If you convince them they are flying near a colony other than their own, they just fly away from it." Mr Brumfitt said the idea for the Waspinator came to him while stuck in a motorway traffic jam. "I was listening to a pest control expert on the radio explaining that when he destroys a colony of wasps he wants to leave the nest as a deterrent," he said. "I thought, can I buy a fake wasps' nest to hang on my patio to deter them? "I could not find one, so I thought I would make one." Sound principles Experts at Leeds University and in America confirmed to Hugh that his idea was based on sound principles, so he and his business partner Richard Piddocke began work on the invention. Hugh said: "It is a bag - that is all it is really. We took a photograph of a nest and had it printed on fabric and had that made into the shape of a nest. "The colour is grey but it does not really matter. It is the shape and the patterning which matters." While the invention would not keep bees or flies at bay, Hugh said it was a natural solution to the big summer problem of wasps and hornets.
The device can be hung outside to deter wasps and hornets
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"The normal deterrent is a jam jar full of honey or sugar, but in every square mile in the UK there will be 500 wasps' nests in the summer," he said. "Each nest has over 2,000 wasps - that is one million wasps per square mile in the UK. "Now, there are not enough jam jars to go around to kill them but what this does is deter them." The Waspinator has already won the silver award at the Earl's Court DIY and Garden Show and at the Business Garden Show in Holland, together with similar awards in America.
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