One wasp
 

On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 19:53:20 +0100, The Reid
wrote:

I thought of several replies, then thought better of all of them! :-)

Whew! That's a relief :)

--
Serena

Sometimes I sits and thinks ... and sometimes I just sits. (Punch cartoon)

One wasp
 

"The Reid" wrote in message
...
Following up to Serena Blanchflower

sounds like a queen looking for a nest site.

Yes, I think that's the most likely explanation. Luckily, she must have
decided she didn't really want to share my bed!

I thought of several replies, then thought better of all of them! :-)

Just as well, what me keeping an eye on you an all:)

O

One wasp
 

"Serena Blanchflower" wrote in
message ...
On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 18:55:57 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:

Oooer missus... how will it do that? Can it turn into chairs and tables
too:)))))

No, but it can turn your chairs and tables into a nest...

hehehe nice one:)

O

One wasp
 

"The Devil's Advocate" wrote:

Hello The

(Erroneous top-quote fixed)

sA : I killed a Queen yesterday. They're starting to come out
sA : hibernation and are hunting around for nesting sites.
sA : If you see one, get the bugger quick before it turns
sA itself into a nest!

TDsA No they do so much good

I don't care if they distribute food aid to third world countries,
they started our little war and although it's unlikely, I'm doing my
best to win it. Doing quite well so far.

(BTW, if anyone wants to know how to kill a ground-level wasps nest
without setting fire to it, just ask.)

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/

One wasp
 

"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

I personally wouldn't have put the "even" in front of the hornets. They
don't occur where I live now, but when we lived further south we had
them in the garden. They're much more docile and less aggressive than
wasps - big stripey pussycats, in fact :-)

Also they seem to be much better endowed with common sense than most wasps.
You can gently usher a hornet to the open window and it will go there,
whereas a wasp will keep turning back to the pane it was bashing itself on
(or else dive off into the middle of the room), and get itself all lathered
up.

One wasp
 

"Michael Saunby" wrote in message
...

For those that want to try the experimental method of working out what you
have by how much the sting hurts - wasp stings hurt a little (rather more
than a nettle) and a bee sting hurts like hell and the sting is left
behind
with the venom sack still pumping. Not sure what a hornet sting is like,
probably like a wasp.

Children, don't try this at home if you are susceptible to strong histamine
reactions...

One wasp
 

I had a wasp fly into my helmet as I was riding down the road at 70 mph. It
landed on the inside of my visor. I guessed if I slammed the brakes on, it
could get onto my face, ditto with opening up the visor. So I gently slowed
down, parked and then persuaded it out of the helmet without it stinging me.

- h

One wasp
 

"H" wrote in message
...
I had a wasp fly into my helmet as I was riding down the road at 70 mph.
It
landed on the inside of my visor. I guessed if I slammed the brakes on, it
could get onto my face, ditto with opening up the visor. So I gently
slowed
down, parked and then persuaded it out of the helmet without it stinging
me.

Wow. well done. I think I would have driven up the side of the first
building:(

O

One wasp
 

Wow. well done.

I think it actually knocked it's head on the way in as I could see it more
or less shaking it's head when it landed. It looked quite groggy,
thankfully.

Best,

- h

One wasp
 

Malcolm wrote:

In article , geoff
writes
snip. . . . . . inspecting my bed carefully
before going outside again. I don't think she was eating it, so I'm not
expecting to find a blue cotton wasps nest anywhere, but I don't know
what the fascination was.
Serena

Wasps will bite off bits of wood from posts and fallen trees to turn into
paper mache for their combs . . . but a BED POST??!!

Perhaps it was after the chewing gum(1) !

(1) Showing my age....

It doesn't lose its flavour the way it used to :-)

regards
sarah


--
"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view,
is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley

One wasp
 

"Martin Rand" wrote in message
...

"Michael Saunby" wrote in message
...

For those that want to try the experimental method of working out what
you
have by how much the sting hurts - wasp stings hurt a little (rather
more
than a nettle) and a bee sting hurts like hell and the sting is left
behind
with the venom sack still pumping. Not sure what a hornet sting is
like,
probably like a wasp.

Children, don't try this at home if you are susceptible to strong
histamine
reactions...


Probably not a good idea to try it anywhere. Though there was a chap on
the TV - tough American military guy - who allowed himself to be stung by a
variety of things. Hardly a big deal I'd have thought for a healthy adult.
After all these are small creatures that don't dine on humans and the
stings have evolved to do no more that drive you away. The really neat
trick would be to raid a wild bees nest with no protection - that really
would hurt. Though if they're anything like domesticated bees if you took
your time and moved very slowly it should be doable - again, don't try this
at home children (of any age).

But back to the wasp question. Has anyone actually seen any wasps, other
than queens, so far this year? I haven't but I'm prepared to believe it
might just be possible.

Michael Saunby

One wasp
 

But back to the wasp question. Has anyone actually seen any wasps, other
than queens, so far this year? I haven't but I'm prepared to believe it
might just be possible.

I have ... but you don't seem to want to believe me ;-(

Maybe I shall sit out by my pond and take a photo of them when they come
flying in...

Best,

- h

One wasp
 

"Michael wrote in message ...

For those that want to try the experimental method of working out what you
have by how much the sting hurts - wasp stings hurt a little (rather more
than a nettle) and a bee sting hurts like hell and the sting is left
behind
with the venom sack still pumping. Not sure what a hornet sting is like,
probably like a wasp.

Ah! But you forgot to mention that Wasps can sting more than once and often
do. As someone who fell off his motorbike because a Wasp went down the front
of my shirt and proceeded to sting me right across my chest this multiplies
the pain I can assure you. :-) (so did falling off the bike!)

Bee sting pain lasts longer though especially if you don't get that sting
out quickly.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

One wasp
 

"Michael wrote in message

But back to the wasp question. Has anyone actually seen any wasps, other
than queens, so far this year? I haven't but I'm prepared to believe it
might just be possible.


We had one in our bedroom this morning which I waved out of the window,
looked like a normal everyday Wasp to me. Also saw some down on the
allotments about a week ago on the compost heap, couldn't believe it, seems
so early.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

One wasp
 

Following up to Michael Saunby

But back to the wasp question. Has anyone actually seen any wasps, other
than queens, so far this year? I haven't but I'm prepared to believe it
might just be possible.

only queens here, missed the last one with my hoe :-(
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
London & the British hills "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk"
Spain, food and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" (see web for email)

One wasp
 

"H" wrote in message
...
But back to the wasp question. Has anyone actually seen any wasps,
other
than queens, so far this year? I haven't but I'm prepared to believe
it
might just be possible.

I have ... but you don't seem to want to believe me ;-(

Maybe I shall sit out by my pond and take a photo of them when they come
flying in...


And you're confident that you can tell the difference between wasps and
honey bees? 'Cos it strikes me that if some folks are already killing what
they believe to be wasps, then they might actually be killing beneficial
pollinators - rather daft for gardeners.

Can any wasp experts say if wasps have much need for water at present?
Bees do, since they may well still be living on last years stores, which
requires water to get it back to liquid form.

Michael Saunby

One wasp
 

"H" wrote in message
...
But back to the wasp question. Has anyone actually seen any wasps,
other
than queens, so far this year? I haven't but I'm prepared to believe
it
might just be possible.

I have ... but you don't seem to want to believe me ;-(

Maybe I shall sit out by my pond and take a photo of them when they come
flying in...

I believe you:)

O

One wasp
 

Following up to Michael Saunby

Can any wasp experts say if wasps have much need for water at present?

As they are making paper from wood with the addition of saliva, surely
they must need water once nest building?

My insect book says a wasps nest may contain 20,000 individuals all
raised on insects "many of them harmful" so dont kill the queens in
spring. Thats what my book says.
I say "**** the little vespa b*******"!
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
London & the British hills "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk"
Spain, food and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" (see web for email)

One wasp
 

And you're confident that you can tell the difference between wasps and
honey bees?

Yup.... Having had my hands in many a bee hive, I think I can recognise them
by now ;-)

'Cos it strikes me that if some folks are already killing what
they believe to be wasps, then they might actually be killing beneficial
pollinators - rather daft for gardeners.

Absolutely. However, wasps are also *good* for the garden, cleaning up plant
pests such as aphids as well as dead wood, and plant matter. So why kill any
of them if they aren't harming us?

Can any wasp experts say if wasps have much need for water at present?

Well, according to www.jungleformula.co.uk, the people who do the
anti-midge/wasp stuff, wasps in the UK are out looking for water, meat and
wood pulp from April to mid August.

Best,

- h

One wasp
 

Xref: news7 uk.rec.gardening:137363 uk.rec.natural-history:13937


"The Reid" wrote in message
...
Following up to Michael Saunby

Can any wasp experts say if wasps have much need for water at present?

As they are making paper from wood with the addition of saliva, surely
they must need water once nest building?

My insect book says a wasps nest may contain 20,000 individuals all
raised on insects "many of them harmful" so dont kill the queens in
spring. Thats what my book says.
I say "**** the little vespa b*******"!

MIke you're a hard man!!! I wonder..did you mean 'swat'?

O :)

One wasp
 

Xref: news7 uk.rec.gardening:137365 uk.rec.natural-history:13938


"The Reid" wrote in message
...
Following up to Michael Saunby

Can any wasp experts say if wasps have much need for water at present?

As they are making paper from wood with the addition of saliva, surely
they must need water once nest building?

My insect book says a wasps nest may contain 20,000 individuals all
raised on insects "many of them harmful" so dont kill the queens in
spring. Thats what my book says.
I say "**** the little vespa b*******"!

MIke you're a hard man!!! Um..did you mean 'swat'?

O :)

One wasp
 

Following up to Ophelia

I say "**** the little vespa b*******"!

MIke you're a hard man!!! I wonder..did you mean 'swat'?

Yes, sorry, a slip of the keyboard. One letter along the alphabet and
a world of difference!

Mike "forked tongue" Reid

One wasp
 

Following up to Ophelia

I say "**** the little vespa b*******"!

MIke you're a hard man!!! Um..did you mean 'swat'?

No, I heard Craig Charles use it in an episode of Red Dwarf, Liverpool
dialect?

****
noun
a) vulgar slang a woman's genitals.
b) a person regarded as stupid or obnoxious.
c) verb [with obj.] Brit. informal hit or punch (someone).

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: of
unknown origin.

Mike "forked tongue" Reid

One wasp
 

"H" wrote in message
...
And you're confident that you can tell the difference between wasps and
honey bees?

Yup.... Having had my hands in many a bee hive, I think I can recognise
them
by now ;-)


Ok, I'll believe you. So far this year I've seen a lot of honey bees (but
then there is a hive near the back door), quite a few bumble bees and a
couple of queen wasps.

'Cos it strikes me that if some folks are already killing what
they believe to be wasps, then they might actually be killing
beneficial
pollinators - rather daft for gardeners.

Absolutely. However, wasps are also *good* for the garden, cleaning up
plant
pests such as aphids as well as dead wood, and plant matter. So why kill
any
of them if they aren't harming us?


I can't see anything short of a plague of wasps making much impact on dead
wood. Even a large wasps nest when empty weighs just a few ounces.

Can any wasp experts say if wasps have much need for water at present?

Well, according to www.jungleformula.co.uk, the people who do the
anti-midge/wasp stuff, wasps in the UK are out looking for water, meat
and
wood pulp from April to mid August.


Without doubt they're getting started, but I've not found any wasps nests
here yet, and we usually get one or two in the outbuildings, and they start
very small. You'll not get large numbers of wasps for a while yet.

Michael Saunby

One wasp
 

"The Reid" wrote in message
...
Following up to Ophelia

I say "**** the little vespa b*******"!

MIke you're a hard man!!! Um..did you mean 'swat'?

No, I heard Craig Charles use it in an episode of Red Dwarf, Liverpool
dialect?

****
noun
a) vulgar slang a woman's genitals.
b) a person regarded as stupid or obnoxious.
c) verb [with obj.] Brit. informal hit or punch (someone).

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: of
unknown origin.

Mike "forked tongue" Reid

Yes.. forked tongue indeed:)) Sorry for my slip in sending it twice. I
thought I had lost the first:))

O

One wasp
 

On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 17:14:13 +0100, The Reid
wrote:

Following up to Michael Saunby

Can any wasp experts say if wasps have much need for water at present?

As they are making paper from wood with the addition of saliva, surely
they must need water once nest building?

My insect book says a wasps nest may contain 20,000 individuals all
raised on insects "many of them harmful" so dont kill the queens in
spring. Thats what my book says.
I say "**** the little vespa b*******"!

Ha ha! But did you know that squashed wasp attracts other wasps? I
can't remember who told me that, but it's true.
We get too worked up over them - a sting isn't so bad or so likely,
after all. We were at a cafe a few summers back on a very hot day, and
there were quite a few wasps around the outside tables. There was a
youngish couple with a baby there. When a wasp approaced their table
they got quite hysterical, ultimately running off into the cafe,
leaving the kid strapped in its high chair screaming its head off!
What a pair! That kid is going to be another of tomorrow's
vespaphobes, without a doubt.

--
Paul

http://paulrooney.netfirms.com/myweb/index.htm
Updated 19 April 03

One wasp
 

In article ,
"Sue & Bob Hobden" wrote:

Bee sting pain lasts longer though especially if you don't get that sting
out quickly.

Oh boy! There I was once cycling to school, going fast down a hill. A
bee collides with my mouth and stings me inside my cheek. By the time I
have the bike stopped the entire contents of the venom sac have gone
into my cheek (I could feel it pumping). By the time I got to school the
whole left side of my face had swelled up. What fun that was.

Peter

--
Peter Ashby
School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland
To assume that I speak for the University of Dundee is to be deluded.
Reverse the Spam and remove to email me.

One wasp
 

Following up to Paul Rooney

When a wasp approaced their table
they got quite hysterical, ultimately running off into the cafe,
leaving the kid strapped in its high chair screaming its head off!

People do over react, I would have ****ted it with my bare fist :-)
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
London & the British hills "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk"
Spain, food and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" (see web for email)

One wasp
 

Xref: news7 uk.rec.gardening:137413 uk.rec.natural-history:13949


"The Reid" wrote in message
...
Following up to Paul Rooney

When a wasp approaced their table
they got quite hysterical, ultimately running off into the cafe,
leaving the kid strapped in its high chair screaming its head off!

People do over react, I would have ****ted it with my bare fist :-)

If my baby were there I would have been bitten to death rather than leave my
baby!
That includes my grandson!!!!!!

O

One wasp
 

On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 21:05:17 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:


"The Reid" wrote in message
.. .
Following up to Paul Rooney

When a wasp approaced their table
they got quite hysterical, ultimately running off into the cafe,
leaving the kid strapped in its high chair screaming its head off!

People do over react, I would have ****ted it with my bare fist :-)

If my baby were there I would have been bitten to death rather than leave my
baby!
That includes my grandson!!!!!!

O

Yes, pair of barstewards, they were - I should have taken their food.


--
Paul

http://paulrooney.netfirms.com/myweb/index.htm
Updated 19 April 03

One wasp
 

"Paul Rooney" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 21:05:17 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:

If my baby were there I would have been bitten to death rather than leave
my
baby!
That includes my grandson!!!!!!

O

Yes, pair of barstewards, they were - I should have taken their food.

My hero!

O

One wasp
 

The message
from The Reid contains these words:

Following up to Paul Rooney

When a wasp approaced their table
they got quite hysterical, ultimately running off into the cafe,
leaving the kid strapped in its high chair screaming its head off!

People do over react, I would have ****ted it with my bare fist :-)

Nasty man, doing that to a tied-up baby...

Janet.

One wasp
 

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

"Michael Saunby" wrote in message
...

"Drakanthus" wrote in message
...
I personally wouldn't have put the "even" in front of the hornets.
They
don't occur where I live now, but when we lived further south we had
them in the garden. They're much more docile and less aggressive
than
wasps - big stripey pussycats, in fact :-)

Malcolm

That's how I think of bumble bees. My wife runs a mile, but I think
they
are sort
of "cute". I can be dead heading plants and they land in a flower next
to
my
hand - they never seem the slightest bit interested in me so I leave
them
to it.
Live and let live. Wasps on the other hand - its open warfare!

Bumble bees I remove from the house by closing my hand around them -
since
they rarely sting and it doesn't hurt much if they do. Wasps I'll admit
I
tend to flick with a fingernail and then flick them out the window -
some
live, some don't. Hornets I remove using a glass and a piece of paper.
The same for honey bees, though often they can be directed with a hand
wave
or too.

For those that want to try the experimental method of working out what
you
have by how much the sting hurts - wasp stings hurt a little (rather
more
than a nettle) and a bee sting hurts like hell and the sting is left
behind
with the venom sack still pumping. Not sure what a hornet sting is
like,
probably like a wasp.

Hmmm the wasp that stung me left its sting in my leg!

I would have thought it unlikely to have been a wasp then,
more likely to have been a bee.

Wasps are able to withdraw their stings, bee stings are
retained in the skin.

Alan
--
Reply to alan(at)windsor-berks(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk

One wasp
 

In article , david david@abacusnurser
ies.freeserve.co.uk writes

I have had a wasp allergy for the last 30 years and would describe a wasp
sting as a great deal more than nettle, whilst bee sting is not so bad....I
was once done over by bees for rotovating to close to a hive, The Dr
removed over 20 stings from my head, and it caused me to take the rest of
the day off work.
2 or 3 Wasps would have had me of work for several days.


I have no wasp allergy, and, although it hurts a bit initially, it
causes me less trouble in the next few days than does a mosquito bite.
Otoh, my father has an allergy, and a wasp sting will cause his whole
arm to swell.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

One wasp
 

We've been seeing wasps for weeks in Lincolnshire.

Jaqy


The Devil's Advocate wrote:
Doesn't make a summer but I saw one this evening


From the English Riviera If you live in Paradise why would you want
to go abroad for a holiday? Answers on a postcard to

http://www.cornishlight.freeserve.co.uk/rame.htm

One wasp
 

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
news:b91i87

Hmmm the wasp that stung me left its sting in my leg!

I would have thought it unlikely to have been a wasp then,
more likely to have been a bee.

Wasps are able to withdraw their stings, bee stings are
retained in the skin.

Oh no.. do I have to change my story after all these years ?:))

O