According to the data, in 2017 130 Asian wasp nests were removed in the county, a number that rose to 383 in 2018 and, a year later, to 408 nests.

Last year, there were 635 wasp nests subject to removal, and this year, until 20 August, there were already 605.

“In August alone, 106 nests are already identified”, says the municipality.

To Lusa News Agency, Nuno Osório, from the Municipal Civil Protection and Forestry Office, said that "a product is placed in the nest, using a stick or a paintball marker, and the nest is neutralised."

“The wasps start to get stunned and attack each other. When wasps from other nests notice this fragility, they will also attack that nest and end up being affected by the same situation, which they transport to other nests”, explained Nuno Osório.

According to the official: "the problem is widespread throughout the municipality", but with "greater incidence in the parish of Pombal and in the coastal area".

“This is a very difficult problem to eliminate, but it is possible to control it, with the intervention of several entities, the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, Civil Protection Services and beekeepers”, he declared.

Referring that the complaints regarding the existence of these nests come mostly from the population, Nuno Osório stated that the Municipality of Pombal has an email available (vespavelutina@cm-pombal.pt) to communicate these situations.

"We have an average of two business days to intervene as soon as the alert is received," he added.

According to the website of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, the main effects of the presence of Asian wasps manifest themselves in beekeeping, "because it is a carnivorous species that preys on bees", and in public safety, given that, “not being more aggressive than the European species, if they feel the nests are threatened they react quite aggressively, including chases up to a few hundred meters”.