The weather's been beautiful for outdoor diners in central Otago recently, but one thing has been putting them off their food -- wasps.
Queenstown and Arrowtown are hotspots for the pests, which are keeping exterminators busy.
Thousands of wasps are being evicted from their nests each day -- at least one of which is half a metre wide, with thousands living inside.
Exterminator John Brosnon says if you multiply that by 100,000, you can get an idea as to what Queenstown and Arrowtown are dealing with at the moment.
Thick beech forest and warm weather in Queenstown makes the area a hotspot.
Mr Brosnon is taking calls every day from residents swarmed by the pests.
"The problem with Queenstown and Arrowtown is all the bush," he says. "It's paradise here and it's paradise for wasps as well, with a lot of sap to feed on."
But it's turning tourists away from the area.
Customers are walking out of cafes and restaurants as the unwelcome pests join them at their tables.
"Sometimes we have people that cancel their order and say, 'we have to leave. We can't sit outside here, it's too many wasps'," says Olivia Rinehardt from Bonjour Café.
It's keeping pharmacies busy with people getting stung.
But those trying to get on top of the problem are being left to tackle them just one wasp nest at a time.
Newshub.
