Belgian city under wasp attack

19 July 2004

BRUSSELS – Firemen in the Belgian city of Genk are having to cope with an invasion of wasps, it was reported on Monday.

In the past few weeks, local fire-fighters have received between 40 and 50 calls a day asking them to remove wasps’ nests.

The intrepid insect busters told the Belga news agency that the mid-summer period is always a busy time when it comes to cracking down on the black and yellow perils.

But they said that this year things seem to be particularly bad.

Experts say the unusually large wasp population in Belgium this year is probably due to the mild winter the country had at the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004.

Subject: Belgian news