"Wasps building in ma composter" was the subject line of a recent e-mail message from my brother. The words, "Whaddaya think?" followed.
Pests of all kinds, flying and otherwise, tend to avoid a well-tended compost pile for a few good reasons. First of all, 50 to 60 degrees Celsius in a properly functioning composter is simply too hot for man or beast. Secondly, a human visiting every few days with a pitchfork to completely obliterate the pest's habitat doesn't exactly contribute to comfortable living conditions. And third, well-tended piles generally don't have a food source easily accessible on the surface -- it's normally buried under a layer of soil, grass clippings, or leaves.
Properly maintaining the pile is the key to prevention. For some good info on pest-proofing your compost pin -- check out this link to the City of Toronto website.
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