Gewone Wespen Vespula vulgaris, gif en een Wespendief Pernis apivorus

In the province of Groningen, a poisoned Honey Buzzard was found on 4 September 1997, close to a nest of Common Wasps. That very day, the wasp nest had been fumigated with Propoxur, an insecticide normally used against caterpillars, beetles, bugs and aphids in apple and pear orchards. The crop of the Honey Buzzard, which contained large numbers of wasp larvae, was emptied and the bird was kept overnight. The next morning it was alive and kicking. Before being released, it was ringed, measured (wing length 398 mm) and weighed (750 g, including small crop). This species does not breed in Groningen and must have been a migrant, although its outermost primaries (P10) were not yet fully grown. A similar case of indirect poisoning in nearby Drenthe shows that the use of insecticides to eradicate insect pests may cause serious trouble for other organisms, and thermal treatment (so called heat sterilization HS, using temperatures of 54-60°C) is recommended instead. Even better is to let die out the wasp colony naturally.