Students at Balliol have been warned about swarms of wasps that have been occupying rooms in their accommodation on the main site.
In an email sent out on Sunday, JCR President Ben Marshall said, “Because it’s summer, I know loads of you have taken to leaving your windows open. Also because it’s summer, there have been lots of wasps around, and a large number of them seem to have invaded Dicey (Top floor of main-site accommodation).”
He continued, “If you want to avoid waking up to a face full of wasps (especially if you’re a finalist) as many people in Dicey and the floor below already have, please keep your windows closed. “If you love wasps, by all means leave them open. The Dean has suggested anyone whose room has been ‘occupied’ stay with a friend until the problem has been resolved.”
Olivia Cocker, who lives in Dicey, commented, “I went up to my room in Dicey at about lunchtime to get some things from my room. As I went in I saw that there were about 40 wasps, mainly crawling on the windows and the wall. My window looks out above a church and there were literally thousands flying around.”
She added, “I called my friend to come and help me get them out of my room and at first she thought I was exaggerating. They were really really agitated and kept flying towards us as we tried to get into my room. Then we realised that we were no match for the angry wasps and we ran away.”
However, after pest control had been called the angry wasps retreated. Domestic Bursar Jo Roadknight said, “They swarmed in, so we called pest control, but within an hour they had made their own exit.”
The JCR President called the invasion “short lived”, saying, “Someone from pest control came out on Sunday and the wasps seem to have vacated.”
