Queen Wasps (possibly OT)

[Bill]

Singularly they are relatively harmless to most of us, but in large quantities they can be dangerous.

I had the misfortune to move a golf buggy that had been parked on a nest, when I moved it they came out of the resulting hole and attacked me, assuming that I was attacking them. They went up inside my shirt and I ended up with about 12 stings on my back. I had some amazing dreams that night, cheapest trip in ages!! But not recommended :-)

I also had a nest under a shipping container, (my garden shed), initially they ignored my trips in and out of the shed and I ignored them, but one day they decided enough was enough and again I ended up with a few stings. That was the final straw as far as that nest was concerned, they didn't survive :-(

If they are well away from me they can carry on about their business, but I'm no longer happy to share my space with them.

I went into an attic and when I turned the light on found a nest built around it, they were a bit shocked to find their home illuminated from inside and buzzed their feelings very loudly. Have you ever seen someone exit through a loft hatch without using a ladder? Apparently it was quite impressive. They didn't live much longer after that either.

[Bill]

In message , Grimly Curmudgeon writes

Bumble bees burning on Halogen uplighters smell just like roast chestnuts.

[PeterC]

You afraid of being harried?

[Peter Crosland]

Probably to cold. However, they are largely beneficial because they eat lots of garden pests so it is better to leave them alone.

[harry]

All my posts are factually correct. There are some here too dim to understand.

[harry]

Always ignore fools.

[harry]

They only attack overripe fruit that is too far gone to be much use. The balance is in their favour.

[harry]

And children have to learn about dangers first hand. Featherbedding them turns out more little useless wimps.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No they don't. Another counterfactual post.

[harry]

Ah poor little things. They will grow up mollycoddled and so unable to function in the real world. You have to explain to your son/daughter how their child came to be stung? That's weird. Shit happens. One has to get used to it. Better to learn sooner than later. I can see you brought them up to your strange standard. Of a non existent world where all is good, people are good and there is no evil etc etc. It's called Lala land.

[Brian Gaff]

Bit early I'd say. July seems to be their busy time around here.

Brian

[Chris Hogg]

A few people (about 10%) do react badly to wasp and bee stings, and it can be fatal for about a third of that 10% unless treated quickly. But for the great majority, it's just a painful experience, accompanied by mild swelling that goes after a few hours.

A very effective treatment to desensitise people who are allergic to bee and wasp stings is the give them small but gradually increasing doses of sting venom, over a period of several weeks.

Do you take the same attitude to bees as you do to wasps, killing every one you see to (in your opinion) protect your grandchildren?

[Tim Lamb]

My Grandfather's generation came from Worcestershire and hated Wasps and Starlings with equal fervour.

Damson harvest was purgatory for us youngsters.

>

[charles]

your wasps are different from ours. Ours eat apples on the tree before they are ready for picking.

[The Natural Philosopher]

you have to appreciate that harry lives in a completely different world to anyone else.

A legend in his own mind.

[Martin Brown]

They will only do that if a bird has already taken a peck out of them. Overipe plums by comparison they seem to be able to nibble on their own.

[The Natural Philosopher]

the issue is that they cant actually penetrate the skins. However if something else does that for them the wasps will eat the fruit away whether or not its ripe.

[David]

Was it, maybe, a hornet ? They look like big wasps.

David

[David]

When replacing the loft insulation 10+ years ago, there were about 8 queens 'hibernating' in the old insulation.

There was also a number of old nests too, one that spanned 3 rafters.

David

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Possibly. Totally fooled by the IR of the charcoal, whatever it was.