Damn wasps.

[powerring]

I've also been stung by bumblebees and hornets.  Believe me, the hornet is the worst.  It feels like getting hit by a high voltage shock.

How did you manage that? Bumblebee are probably the most docile among all those stinger bugs.

They aren't docile if you sit on them!     Otherwise, I've never been bothered by one.

BTW, I meant "wandered".  My word choice was pretty funny on the re-read.   

[NutSAK]

I wondered into a yellow jacket nest in the woods when I was a kid.  After getting stung 13 or 14 times, you'll learn to respect them and their home.   

I've also been stung by bumblebees and hornets.  Believe me, the hornet is the worst.  It feels like getting hit by a high voltage shock.

Check out this sting pain index on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index

Note that the sting of the common paper wasp ranks as more painful than the sting of the yellowjacket.

.

True, but yellowjackets tend to attack "en masse".  I disturbed a nest on my bike once and was stung 50-60 times before I could get away.

[EM745]

I tried the old "if you don't move they won't sting you" trick and I am sorry but that doesn't do Jack

Well, as others have said, wasps are very ill-tempered compared to "regular" (European) honeybees. Plus, unlike bees, they don't die after they sting.

Another thing to be wary of when "squashing" wasps. A squashed wasp/bee/hornet/yellowjacket releases some kind of chemical that signals their brethren that there's danger in their midst and to go on the offensive. This is what triggers those swarm attacks.

This has worked pretty well and I was even given what is called a Foetsie one Christmas

Yeah, I got one of those during a clearance sale at Walmart last Fall. Paid around 6 bucks for it. Works like a charm, except for the smokey stench produced when a large insect is being fried. 

Plus the little smurfs scare my hummingbirds.

Yay! Another hummer lover! (Wait, that doesn't sound right...  )

Perhaps I should just stick with the yellow from now on. 

Yellow's the last color you'd want to wear. Polinating insects are known to be attracted by yellow flowers. Just as most hummers are attracted by red.

Actually, wasps are a valuable part of the ecology - they prey on and keep the numbers of many other insects and spiders in check.

I recall a rather drawn out debate I had with one of my bio professors over that very subject. Contrary to what is often believed, not every animal species on this planet is a "vital part" of the ecology. There are MANY species that are 100% pure pests (you think locusts serve a useful purpose?). Whatever small "useful" role these pests may play, there's almost always another less destructive (or less "annoying") species able to fill the same niche.

Frankly, I doubt the world's ecosystem(s) would "suffer" that much if all those stinging wasps species (not all wasps have stingers) would suddenly disappear. Ditto for European starlings, grackles, pigeons, fire ants, botflies, tapeworms, Norway rats, yada yada, etc. etc...

While living in Peterhead a colony of wasps took up residence in a bird box

FYI, those who put up birdhouses can avoid this problem by smearing/coating the inside of the roof with bar soap. A soft soap like Ivory works well. Just make sure to brush off any flakes that fall to the floor of the house.

I've been "landlord" of a tree swallow house for about a decade and have never had one taken over by wasps.

In any case Benner, whatever beef you may have with your neighborhood vespas, just be glad you don't live in Japan:       



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet

[ducktapehero]

True, but yellowjackets tend to attack "en masse".  I disturbed a nest on my bike once and was stung 50-60 times before I could get away.

I got stung "en masse" by a bunch of wasps once. I was at my aunt's farm and I was playing on the hay bales. Well I fell into one that the wasps(IIRC it was wasps but it may have been hornets) had converted into a HUGE nest. I was stung a BUNCH of time before I got away. My uncle went out there to try and get rid of it but figured the only way to do that was to just burn the whole bale.

[Benner]

This has worked pretty well and I was even given what is called a Foetsie one Christmas

Yeah, I got one of those during a clearance sale at Walmart last Fall. Paid around 6 bucks for it. Works like a charm, except for the smokey stench produced when a large insect is being fried. 

In any case Benner, whatever beef you may have with your neighborhood vespas, just be glad you don't live in Japan:       



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet

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Yeah they do tend to stink a little when you have something stuck on there. 

And sod the size of that!    If they started to get that big I'd need more than a rolled up newspaper and a Foetsie to attack them with. 

[duckman1975]

Heard those Japanese giant hornet, can kill a person with one sting. You have to get an anti venom to survive.

[jzmtl]

Badminton racket works great for killing wasps, the hole is small enough so they can't pass, but is nimble and large enough to smack them easily.

[ducktapehero]

I executed a wasp yesterday. I trapped him and used my Spirit to pick him up. I then used the scissors from my Fieldmaster to formally execute him. I felt beheading was the proper punishment for coming into my house.

[NutSAK]

Cool!

BTW, we have these things around here.  They're non-aggressive toward humans, but they'll sure scare the smurf out of you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp

[WhichDawg]

wow Terry! I've never seen them, maybe I've heard them do a fly by and
thought they were beetles!

[edap617]

 

[ringzero]

Cool!

BTW, we have these things around here.  They're non-aggressive toward humans, but they'll sure scare the Colorful Enunciation out of you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp

Noticed a few of these guys out in the back yard.  They were going in and out of a couple of burrows, which they have dug into a little bare dirt area beside a drainage ditch.

My first thought was, "Oh, Sh*t - yellowjackets!"  - but after looking a little closer I realized what they were.

Like the mud dauber wasps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_dauber that nest under my front porch roof, these guys are completely non-agressive toward humans.

.
 

[NutSAK]

Yeah, but the ones I see here are nearly as large as hummingbirds.  You must have been at a great distance from them if you confused them with yellowjackets.

[ducktapehero]

I haven't noticed those around here. That doesn't mean they aren't here but I've never seen one, at least not here in the western Ozarks. I do recall seeing those in Kansas City. I just thought they were big damn hornets but never had any problem with them.

[ringzero]

Yeah, but the ones I see here are nearly as large as hummingbirds.  You must have been at a great distance from them if you confused them with yellowjackets.

When I see something black and yellow emerging from a hole in the ground, my first reaction is always "Yellowjacket!" until proved otherwise.

I'm still quite leery of yellowjackets from an unfortunate incident many years ago.

That just shows what a clever strategy yellowjackets have evolved.  One encounter will convince the average person to fear and avoid them for life!

.

[ringzero]

Yeah, but the ones I see here are nearly as large as hummingbirds.  You must have been at a great distance from them if you confused them with yellowjackets.

Here's another very big ground burrowing wasp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk
which I've seen in the wild on trips out West.

Not agressive toward humans but still scary, just because of the extreme potentcy of their sting:

"These wasps are usually not aggressive[1], but the sting, particularly of Pepsis formosa, is among the most painful of any insect. Commenting on his own experience, one researcher described the pain as "...immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations."[2] In terms of scale, the wasp's sting is rated at the top of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, second only to that of the bullet ant.[2]"

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[ducktapehero]

Plus the little smurfs scare my hummingbirds.

Yay! Another hummer lover! (Wait, that doesn't sound right...  )

I just noticed this. Yeah, I like hummingbirds. I have 2 small feeders but I'm thinking of going to Wally World to get a bigger one. I want one where they can perch. I've been researching and if they can sit down they sometimes stay longer at the feeder. I also bought a big red flower of some sort yesterday. I also read that colorful plants will attract them too. Plus, they love to eat flies so I usually throw my banana peels near the feeders too.

Right now I've got about 4 birds that show up but I think I'm getting more.

[NutSAK]

Wow, that Tarantula Hawk sounds nasty!

I feed Hummingbirds too, DTH.  They do stay longer at the feeder I have with perches.  They REALLY like Mimosa trees, BTW.  My neighbor had one when I moved in and hummingbirds were everywhere when the tree was in bloom.  Unfortunately, he cut it down a couple of years ago.  I still have up to five or six at a time at the feeders, but it used to be 15-20.