Wasps! Leave em bee...
Discussion
Ok not a particularly witty start but then hey ho.
Wasps. Ive often seen folk on here screeching about how they hate them cos " theyre stingin innit" and then employ a mutitude of methods to eradicate said annoyance.
My advice- dont. Just let em alone, shoo em away.
Why? Have i gawn all soft in da heed? Not a bit of it, i hate stinging buggers as much as the rest of you phobics but i witnessed a couple of natural events yesterday that firmly place the "leave em alone" ethos in my mind.
1) Checking out the damage to the cabbages i was confronted by the sight of a wasp having a tussle with a rather large caterpillar that was attempting the equivalent of an "eat all you can" offer at a McDronalds.
The wasp eventually stung seven bells out of Heimlich and carried him off with some effort i might add to be dealt with eleswhere.
2) Mr Bluebottle. I hate these things worse than any stinger cos they have some really rather dangerous habits.
Heard the one about eating s
t then flying off and spewing it all over exposed foodstuffs? Well thats his forte.
Mr B was, i say was as he is now gladly departed, sitting on the wall when a flipping great wasp droned in through the door, did a slow circle, spotted Mr B and did a stuka on him.
Sting deployed and off he carted him.
Wasps therefore are your friend although they can be a nuisance, so best just let em be, they do more good than harm.(ex stingee).
Wasps. Ive often seen folk on here screeching about how they hate them cos " theyre stingin innit" and then employ a mutitude of methods to eradicate said annoyance.
My advice- dont. Just let em alone, shoo em away.
Why? Have i gawn all soft in da heed? Not a bit of it, i hate stinging buggers as much as the rest of you phobics but i witnessed a couple of natural events yesterday that firmly place the "leave em alone" ethos in my mind.
1) Checking out the damage to the cabbages i was confronted by the sight of a wasp having a tussle with a rather large caterpillar that was attempting the equivalent of an "eat all you can" offer at a McDronalds.
The wasp eventually stung seven bells out of Heimlich and carried him off with some effort i might add to be dealt with eleswhere.
2) Mr Bluebottle. I hate these things worse than any stinger cos they have some really rather dangerous habits.
Heard the one about eating s
t then flying off and spewing it all over exposed foodstuffs? Well thats his forte.Mr B was, i say was as he is now gladly departed, sitting on the wall when a flipping great wasp droned in through the door, did a slow circle, spotted Mr B and did a stuka on him.
Sting deployed and off he carted him.
Wasps therefore are your friend although they can be a nuisance, so best just let em be, they do more good than harm.(ex stingee).
speedy_thrills said:
Wasps are OK until the Autumn.
Everything has it's place in the chain of life, even us.
This is true.Everything has it's place in the chain of life, even us.
The wasps kill other insects to feed the grubs in the nest. The grubs secrete a sugary substance which the wasps eat. In Autumn, the queen stops laying eggs and eventually dies. No eggs, no grubs. No grubs, no sugar, and no need to collect insects. The unemployed and hungry wasps seek out other sources of sugar; blackberries, apples, picnics...
Deltaf01 said:
Checking out the damage to the cabbages i was confronted by the sight of a wasp having a tussle with a rather large caterpillar that was attempting the equivalent of an "eat all you can" offer at a McDronalds.
The wasp eventually stung seven bells out of Heimlich and carried him off with some effort i might add to be dealt with eleswhere.
The Wasp may have been laying its eggs inside the large Caterpillar.The wasp eventually stung seven bells out of Heimlich and carried him off with some effort i might add to be dealt with eleswhere.
danrc said:
Rocky Balboa said:
Then you get one of these fellas to kill the wasps right?
Is that real? I'd scream like a little girl whilst running away flailing my arms all over the place if that came anywhere near me. What is that person doing with one on there hand!
Rocky Balboa said:
danrc said:
Rocky Balboa said:
Then you get one of these fellas to kill the wasps right?
Is that real? I'd scream like a little girl whilst running away flailing my arms all over the place if that came anywhere near me. What is that person doing with one on there hand!
Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the defenses of many individual honey bees, whose small stings cannot inflict much damage against such a large predator, the Japanese honey bee (Apis cerana japonica) possesses a collective defense against them.
When a hornet scout locates and approaches a Japanese honey bee hive it will emit specific pheromonal hunting signals. When the honey bees detect these pheromones, a hundred or so will gather near the entrance of the nest and keep it open, apparently to draw the hornet further into the hive or allow it to enter on its own. As the hornet enters the nest, a large mob of about five hundred honey bees surrounds it, completely covering it and preventing it from moving, and begin quickly vibrating their flight muscles. This has the effect of raising the temperature of the honey bee mass to 47 °C (117 °F). The honey bees can just about tolerate this temperature, but the hornet cannot survive more than 45 °C (113 °F), so it dies. Often several bees perish along with the intruder, but the death of the hornet scout prevents it from summoning reinforcements which would wipe out the colony.
Edited by stuart-b on Sunday 31st August 11:47
hartge bob said:
stuart-b said:
Although a handful of Asian giant hornets can easily defeat the defenses of many individual honey bees, whose small stings cannot inflict much damage against such a large predator, the Japanese honey bee (Apis cerana japonica) possesses a collective defense against them.
As demonstrated towards the end of this video
Rocky Balboa said:
danrc said:
Rocky Balboa said:
Then you get one of these fellas to kill the wasps right?
Is that real? I'd scream like a little girl whilst running away flailing my arms all over the place if that came anywhere near me. What is that person doing with one on there hand!
Found a wasps nest in my large shed last Sunday (the shed is only actively used for 4 months a year). We did wonder for a few minutes how we were going to get rid until the most sensible option was realised. We stuck a rook scarer firework to it and blew the bugger up.
Damn inconvenient having a wasps nest in ones shed.
Damn inconvenient having a wasps nest in ones shed.
Red Firecracker said:
Found a wasps nest in my large shed last Sunday (the shed is only actively used for 4 months a year). We did wonder for a few minutes how we were going to get rid until the most sensible option was realised. We stuck a rook scarer firework to it and blew the bugger up.
Damn inconvenient having a wasps nest in ones shed.
Do you now have a large, topless shed?Damn inconvenient having a wasps nest in ones shed.
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