Cafes have shut their doors, businesses have sold out of traps, and children have had to hide indoors as European wasp infestations terrorise regional Victoria.
The stinging insects can pose a significant health threat to some people, and in large numbers they can be dangerous to anyone.
A hotter-than-usual autumn is spurring an increase in European wasp populations, but pest controllers warn that warmer weather in the future will only make the problem worse.
'Thousands' of wasps storm cafe
Natasha Hall owns Walters 3460 in Daylesford, in central Victoria, and said she had to close her cafe for three days because of the pests.
"We make all our own sausage rolls and pastries here, and the wasps just started coming in while we're baking," Ms Hall said.
"We had to close because there were literally thousands of them coming into the cafe.
"We can't get wasps in our food, it would be the end of everything."
Ms Hall said it meant three days of major trade lost at a busy time of year.
"It's a beautiful time to be in the region with the leaves changing, so we've felt the loss for sure," she said.
"Council gardeners have really helped, and we've managed to control numbers a little better in the last few days."
A painful danger
While European wasp stings are incredibly painful, that are not a significant health risk for most people in small doses.
However the Victorian health department warns "around one in 10 people who are stung two or more times become allergic, which means they will experience severe reactions to any subsequent stings", and which could ultimately lead to an anaphylactic reaction or death.
It also says that an ambulance should be called if a child is stung more than five times, an adult is stung more than 10 times, or if anyone is stung in the mouth or throat, as it can lead to swelling that might block the airways.
'Something out of a horror movie'
In Creswick, not far from Daylesford, wasps are also in plague proportions.
Parisse Permezel has lived in town for the past two-and-a-half years and said the issue was only getting worse.
"They come on all of a sudden at this time of year and just seem to be everywhere," Ms Permezel said.
"I've got two young children and they have to hide inside.
"We can't do outdoor activities... we can't eat outside, because [the wasps] like being around food."
Kirsty Jennings, who lives in the Ballarat suburb of Canadian, discovered an enormous wasp nest in the walls of her new property.
"The house had been vacant for six months before we moved in, and I noticed the plaster looked funny," Ms Jennings said.
"I tapped on the wall and it was something out of a horror movie... I could hear the sound of the wasps flying inside my wall.
"I still get shivers when I think of the sound."
A pest controller had to be called in to remove the nest.
Wasp numbers getting worse
Chris Pianto is a pest control expert in northern Victoria and said European wasp populations were increasing.
"I think it's the warm winters; in the last five years we haven't really seen the cold weather that we're used to seeing," Mr Pianto said.
"A lot of the nests [usually] die over winter, so [if it's warmer] they last right through the winter and we have a huge problem.
"They just keep expanding and expanding... and with climate change it's only going to get worse."
Mr Pianto said European wasp populations had been steadily increasing in northern Victoria since the 1990s.
"There was some government-assisted baiting programs to try and get the numbers down," he said.
"That funding hasn't been around for a long time, so they've just let rip."
The state environment department has been approached for comment.
A 'very aggressive' time of year
For those trying to overcome the pests, Mr Pianto recommended not dealing with the wasps by themselves.
"As the weather gets colder, they're starting to produce new queens; they go out and get fertilised by the males and they get a lot more defensive, very aggressive," he said.
"I recommend getting a pest controller... I even get nervous around them and I've been doing this a long time.
"Wasp traps don't really help that much if there's not a bait involved, if they're not taking something back to the nest to kill them.
"If you're just trapping them, if you're sitting outside with a sandwich, they're probably more interested in your sandwich."
