SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Aidan Cartwright woke up July 30 and stood on his back deck planning to start some yard work and gardening when he felt a sharp pain hit him in the face.

Aidan Cartwright was stung twice by a wasp on July 30, the first time between the eyes, leading to the swelling of his face. - photo courtesy of Aidan Cartwright

"I got sucker punched by a wasp or a hornet," said Cartwright. "He got me right between the eyes, literally."

After getting stung, Cartwright, 24, went back inside the house for about two-and-a-half hours before going back outside. This time he was on his lawn when he was stung again by a wasp in the back. "Again, a cheap shot," he said.

The sting on his back didn't bother him as much as the sting on his face that swelled up for about two days. He figures the wasp or wasps that stung him came from the nest under his deck. About a week later, his brother-in-law destroyed it.

Rick Moulton, a mechanical engineer that lives near the Explorer Hotel, said this year he's had to remove two wasp nests in his yard - one under his step and another one about six metres away. He destroyed both nests with a can of Raid he bought at Canadian Tire.

Both Cartright and Moulton said they believe, like many others, that this year there's more wasps around Yellowknife than in previous years. In fact, the Canadian Tire store where Moulton bought his can of wasp spray has sold 80 per cent more cans this summer compared to other summers, said Chris Condracki, general manager of Canadian Tire.

Dr. Lawrence Harder, professor of biological sciences at the University of Calgary, said he can't speak specifically about whether there is a higher population of wasps this summer in Yellowknife, but in general he said the reason people tend to notice more wasps in July and August is due to the wasp's reproductive cycle.

Harder explained each fall the queen of a colony is fertilized and then goes into hibernation over the winter. In the spring, she awakens and starts laying eggs, first producing female worker wasps and then males over the course of the summer. By the end of July and early August, the number of wasps in a colony can grow to 100, he said. When fall and winter approaches, the colony as a whole dies except for the queen, starting the process over again.

Harder said when someone is stung by a wasp the stinger injects a protein that serves as a poison or toxin and causes the area to swell. In some cases, the outcome can be an allergic reaction.

The stinger is also used to immobilize or paralyze prey. Wasps are carnivores that mainly feed on caterpillars and the larvae of caterpillars. The fact wasps are carnivores is a main reason why they are attracted to backyards and barbecues. The wasp will land on a piece of meat, tear off a part of it, and bring it back to the nest to feed the young, he said.

Harder also said only females sting and both wasps and hornets can sting repeatedly unlike bees which can only sting once and then die. Usually wasps and hornets only sting when they are threatened or are protecting and defending the interest.

But after getting stung twice by a wasp in one day, and many more times when he was younger, Cartwright is wondering whether insects like wasps are attracted to certain people's scents.

"I getting the feeling that they kind of like me," he said.

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