Stung by a wasp? Treat with a tweet

Pest control company Rentokil is launching a website and Twitter hashtag that allows people to monitor and report the summer's wasp hot spots.

Wasp: Rentokil asks victims to map attacks on Twitter
Wasp: Rentokil asks victims to map attacks on Twitter

The website illustrates the presence of wasps on a UK-wide map, which Rentokil is hoping will attract a human swarm.

To report wasp sightings and stings people can tweet ‘#UKWaspWatch’ plus their postcode and severity of incident, based on a 1-10 scale, to report a sting or sighting, for example "#Ukwaspwatch ME13 3/10".

There was a 47% increase in reported wasp stings in 2009 and more could be suspected this year due to untreated wasps’ nests, according to Savvas Othon, technical director at Rentokil.

Othon said: "Rentokil is keen to use Twitter technology to identify what affect the poor winter has had on wasp populations and where they are at their worst."

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