Minnesota DNR using wasps to slow spread of emerald ash borer in Chippewa National Forest

Of all the buzzing buddies of nature, the wasp is one most people aren't fond of, but if you have ash trees in your yard, three breeds of wasp come in handy, don't sting and turn out to be hardy too.

"What we're finding is that these things are extremely cold-tolerant, that we're not actually getting much mortality until temperatures fall around minus 20, minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit," Rob Venette, a research biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, said.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and the USDA's Forest Service jointly operate the parasitoid wasp program.

The program involves releasing special species of wasps to target the invasive emerald ash borer , a pest that has been wreaking havoc on ash tr