Bloomin' Wasps!

[The Hornet]

So there I was yesterday actively involved in an outdoor pursuit (no, not Geocaching - in the pub garden enjoying their beer festival ) when a damn wasp decided to sting me on the back of my hand. At the time it wasn't bad and it didn't affect my ongoing quality testing :cheers:, but today my drinking hand is swollen up like a balloon and is burning like hell

Has anyone else noticed an increase in the numbers of the little blighters recently?

[Lost in Space]

.... when a damn wasp decided to sting me on the back of my hand.

Language Timothy.............hmy:

[Lost in Space]

https://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/in...topic=40047&hl

[Tiger-Eyes]

We had a camping holiday this year and the little blighters were everywhere . My 7 yr old got stung just below her eye, luckily I had bought some anti sting stuff and some anti histimine with us so I sprayed the sting ang gave her the medicine withine a minute of being stung and luckily it didn't swell up as it would normally do.
We also bought a wasp trap and now have it near out front door - more jam jars needed please

[molfrew-mosstoad]

Imagine that a hornet getting stung, there must be some brave ones round your way.

I was stung quite recentlly (for the first time) and I was realy surprised how much pain it caused. We do seem to have a lot around here lately.

In the meantime you will have to learn to drink through a straw lol

[Happy Humphrey]

There seems to be a few around here, but not many, even though the apples in our garden seem to be rotting on the bough (due to all the wet weather). That normally attracts them, but perhaps it's been too windy here.

Autumn is the time when wasps traditionally get aggressive, so what you're seeing is the early onset of autumn!

[uktim]

There seems to be a few around here, but not many, even though the apples in our garden seem to be rotting on the bough (due to all the wet weather). That normally attracts them, but perhaps it's been too windy here.

Autumn is the time when wasps traditionally get aggressive, so what you're seeing is the early onset of autumn!

Thats a bit harsh

Wasps are never aggressive unless provoked IME. If they "attack" it's usually in response to a threat, very often some daft loon panicing and flapping at them

They can be a bit sleepy in the autumn which means that they're less able to avoid us as we clump about in our clumsy way and we're therefore more likely to give them a reason to defend themselves.

I react very badly to most bites and stings, but I know that wasps (and bees) will only harm me if I've already harmed them in some way. They're quite beautiful and fascinating things and it's a real shame that we tag them as sort sort of aggressive attack beast

[The Hornet]

If they "attack" it's usually in response to a threat, very often some daft loon panicing and flapping at them

I can assure you that THIS "daft loon" was sitting quietly, drinking beer, chatting and knew nothing about the wasp until I felt the sting. If I'd been flapping at it I'd have spilt my beer and that would have been even more upsetting than the sting.

As an aside, my right hand is still badly swollen and looks a bit like a balloon I certainly can't use it for anything useful like holding a glass.

[Lost in Space]

....some daft loon panicing and flapping at them.

.......or sticking their hand in the nest...........

[Happy Humphrey]

Thats a bit harsh

Wasps are never aggressive unless provoked IME. If they "attack" it's usually in response to a threat, very often some daft loon panicing and flapping at them

They can be a bit sleepy in the autumn which means that they're less able to avoid us as we clump about in our clumsy way and we're therefore more likely to give them a reason to defend themselves.

I react very badly to most bites and stings, but I know that wasps (and bees) will only harm me if I've already harmed them in some way. They're quite beautiful and fascinating things and it's a real shame that we tag them as sort sort of aggressive attack beast

I'm no expert, but I do find that wasps get a bit, shall we say, "less patient" as we move into September. I agree that they're fascinating things, but that doesn't mean that they aren't annoying at times!

Wasps
Wasps are often aggressive especially towards the end of the season (late summer and autumn). They will then turn to eating any decomposing foods.
Fruit pickers often encounter wasp stings in the early autumn. From autumn until the end of the year, sleepy wasps can still be found. They are perfectly still and not buzzing and it is much easier to accidentally touch or step on one.
Because wasps have smooth, non barbed stings which can be withdrawn, a wasp can sting many times.

...from
http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/inform...ct_stings.html

[t.a.folk]

.......or sticking their hand in the nest...........

Or sticking their heads up into a cavernous hole in a decaying tree .
Result of disturbing a swarm of wasps was ,
I got about 47 stings and friend about 18 .
It was difficult to count ,there were so many the
Did it hurt ?
YES! but not half as much as it would have done if our wives had got stung as well because of we men had done hmy:.

All about 12 years ago .
Happy to say we had no adverse reactions and and haven't been stung since .

[sTeamTraen]

<snip> (someone beat me to the Hornet joke... )

[jacobite]

I’ve noticed a lot of the little blighters in the house recently, most of which have become a new pattern on the wallpaper with a tea-towel. I don’t like the things; I was stung on the neck as a baby, which left me critically ill. Fortunately I pulled through, much to the delight of my Mother, and the annoyance of my Father.

[uktim]

I can assure you that THIS "daft loon" was sitting quietly, drinking beer, chatting and knew nothing about the wasp until I felt the sting. If I'd been flapping at it I'd have spilt my beer and that would have been even more upsetting than the sting.

As an aside, my right hand is still badly swollen and looks a bit like a balloon I certainly can't use it for anything useful like holding a glass.

I bet you can drink left-handed

The only time I ever got stung in a simliar situation I'd trapped the wasp between two of my fingers when holding a water bottle. So it can happen without flapping ;(

I get very nervous when folks start flapping at insects. I know that left alone we can quite happily exist in the same space, but wasps do get a bit agitated when folks start trying to kill them

[uktim]

I'm no expert, but I do find that wasps get a bit, shall we say, "less patient" as we move into September. I agree that they're fascinating things, but that doesn't mean that they aren't annoying at times!


...from
http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/inform...ct_stings.html

I'm not 100% convinced. I've never been stung by an "aggressive" wasp and there have been plenty of occasions when I've inadvertantly damaged their nests whilst working around the farm. Remain calm yourself and you don't come to any harm. I sometimes wonder if they respond to peoples fear or agitation ?

[amberel]

I'm not 100% convinced. I've never been stung by an "aggressive" wasp and there have been plenty of occasions when I've inadvertantly damaged their nests whilst working around the farm. Remain calm yourself and you don't come to any harm. I sometimes wonder if they respond to peoples fear or agitation ?

A few years ago I moored my boat at Runnymede, and no sooner had I driven in the first mooring pin than I was simultaneously stung several times by wasps, before I even realised they were there. I was then engulfed by a swarm of them. I walked away but they followed me, so I pulled out the mooring pin and we set off again. They continued to swarm round me for 100 yards as we went up the river, and stung me several more times, mostly on the head.

"Remain calm yourself and you don't come to any harm" is demonstrably wrong, both from this example and Hornet's. Of course I accept the wasps were defending themselves, as I assume I must have unknowingly driven the mooring pin into a buried nest, but that is completely irrelevant - the point is that people can and do get stung when they are calm, and even when they are completely unaware of the presence of the wasp.

Rgds, Andy

[uktim]

A few years ago I moored my boat at Runnymede, and no sooner had I driven in the first mooring pin than I was simultaneously stung several times by wasps, before I even realised they were there. I was then engulfed by a swarm of them. I walked away but they followed me, so I pulled out the mooring pin and we set off again. They continued to swarm round me for 100 yards as we went up the river, and stung me several more times, mostly on the head.

"Remain calm yourself and you don't come to any harm" is demonstrably wrong, both from this example and Hornet's. Of course I accept the wasps were defending themselves, as I assume I must have unknowingly driven the mooring pin into a buried nest, but that is completely irrelevant - the point is that people can and do get stung when they are calm, and even when they are completely unaware of the presence of the wasp.

It's an interesting subject!

Last week I had to get rid of a nest right by a tree we needed to fell. In spite of the fact that I'd just set light to the tree stump containing their home and returned to pour more diesel on it I was still able to stand within 4 feet of the nest with wasps buzzing around me without a single sting. I wonder what does trigger their "attack" mode?

[Rampton Broadmoore]

A point to remember is that when you kill a wasp, they release an "attack pheromone" that can, and does induce a "sting anything that moves" response from any passing wasp/s..

A great wasp attractor for use in traps can be made from a 30/70 honey water mix, with a pinch of yeast in it.. Leave to ferment for a few days, and then bait your traps... Works wonders!

I hate the little stripey ASBO ******s...

[sTeamTraen]

A great wasp attractor for use in traps can be made from a 30/70 honey water mix, with a pinch of yeast in it.. Leave to ferment for a few days, and then bait your traps... Works wonders!

Mmmmmm... mead...

[amberel]

It's an interesting subject!

Last week I had to get rid of a nest right by a tree we needed to fell. In spite of the fact that I'd just set light to the tree stump containing their home and returned to pour more diesel on it I was still able to stand within 4 feet of the nest with wasps buzzing around me without a single sting. I wonder what does trigger their "attack" mode?

Just had to disable one of my caches this evening (Magna Carta). Report was that hornets have built a nest next to it, and cachers got stung. I don't know if they really are hornets or just ordinary wasps, but thought it best to disable for a month or so until the colder weather kills them off.

Rgds, Andy