"Michael Bell" wrote in message
. uk...
In message t
"Mary Fisher" wrote:


"Broadback" wrote in message
...

As a bit of an aside I seem to have a wasp nest in an abandoned
mole/mouse hole at the edge of my lawn. Is this normal, all other wasp
nests I have seen are outside and consist of a "paper" ball?

It's normal for some types of social wasps to make nests in abandoned
mouse
holes, excavating them to make the hole big enough. Bumble bees do the
same.

Ah! A lady who knows something that I want to know. My daughter gave
me a bumblebee nesting box for Christmas and I followed the
instructions which said that a mouse nest should be put in the nesting
box to attract bees, so I got my local pet shop to stable his mice
overnight in hay and put that hay into the box (Ah, the obligation
that some gifts put on you!), but no bees settled in it. What more can
I do? It'll have to be next season now of course.

I've never heard of bumble bees being attracted to a mouse nest per se. It's
the hole, the cavity, they're intererested in!

Sometimes artificial nesting boxes are occupied quickly, other times not. I
don't know the answer. It might be best to cover the top with some dry
vegetable matter or bits of old carpet (and make sure it's kept dry), to
mimic favourite nnatural nesting places. The bees will bring in their own
nesting material.

Mary

"Gordon H" wrote in message
...
In message , Michael Bell
writes

Ah! A lady who knows something that I want to know. My daughter gave
me a bumblebee nesting box for Christmas and I followed the
instructions which said that a mouse nest should be put in the nesting
box to attract bees, so I got my local pet shop to stable his mice
overnight in hay and put that hay into the box (Ah, the obligation
that some gifts put on you!), but no bees settled in it. What more can
I do? It'll have to be next season now of course.

Michael Bell

I'm no expert, but the last time blue tits nested successfully in one of
my nest boxes, there was a real battle between the tits and a large bumble
bee which tried to claim the box, so there could be something in the
theory, though the material they used was softer than straw.
I have some amusing video clips of the female tit dodging as the bee
emerged from the box, but the birds won in the end, against the
predictions of some birding people.
I could find no evidence of a bee's nest when I cleaned out the box, which
had four dead chicks, against the four I saw fledge.

Usually the birds will win. Wasps sometimes take up a tit box too. It's
fascinating bcause the space needed by the wasps is larger than the box so
the paper nest is extended outside. We once had such a box, it becme totally
engulfed inside the enlarged nest.

Mary
--
Gordon H

"rehn" wrote in message
...

Towards the end of the season the queen doesn't lay as many eggs so there
are fewer larvae to feed and there are very many more adults, far too
many
to get enough sugar from the diminishing brood.

THAT'S when the adults begin to look for sugar for themselves. They're
not
homeless, just hungry.

I hope that's enough,

Mary

Well, if they have -no- larvae to feed and to get sugar from ( if you
killed all larvae ) the adults are even more hungry.
So if you kill the nest, make sure you kill the adults too.

We used to have problems with wasp-nests in the attic. Very annoying
when up there looking for something in August-September.
What we did was to leave the hatch to the attic somewhat open. When
the queen in the spring is looking for a place for her nest in our
attic she flies through the hatch on her way out( seeing the light ),
into out living room and to the windows where we kill her.
If some queen is not trapped and manages to build a nest all the
newborn wasps goes through the hatch and is killed. The queen gets no
helper the the nest dies out.( the newborn are very confused and easy
to kill ) A lamp just below the hatch will make this even more
effective.

John

I'm saddened by the urge to kill something which is a temporary
inconvenience.

The same could apply to some people ...

Mary

In message , Mary Fisher
writes

I'm saddened by the urge to kill something which is a temporary
inconvenience.

The same could apply to some people ...

Mary

8-)
I share you reluctance to kill things, but can I ask, in a light-hearted
way, what is the use of a wasp?

Do they pollinate?
--
Gordon H

In message , Mary Fisher
writes

"Gordon H" wrote

the last time blue tits nested successfully in one of
my nest boxes, there was a real battle between the tits and a large bumble
bee which tried to claim the box, so there could be something in the
theory, though the material they used was softer than straw.

Usually the birds will win. Wasps sometimes take up a tit box too. It's
fascinating bcause the space needed by the wasps is larger than the box so
the paper nest is extended outside. We once had such a box, it becme totally
engulfed inside the enlarged nest.

Mary

A neighbour came to my door to warn me that wasps had taken over her
nest box, and to check mine. I knew they were empty, but I could
picture a wasp nest enveloping a box.
--
Gordon H

"Gordon H" wrote in message
...
In message , Mary Fisher
writes

"Gordon H" wrote

the last time blue tits nested successfully in one of
my nest boxes, there was a real battle between the tits and a large
bumble
bee which tried to claim the box, so there could be something in the
theory, though the material they used was softer than straw.

Usually the birds will win. Wasps sometimes take up a tit box too. It's
fascinating bcause the space needed by the wasps is larger than the box so
the paper nest is extended outside. We once had such a box, it becme
totally
engulfed inside the enlarged nest.

Mary

A neighbour came to my door to warn me that wasps had taken over her nest
box, and to check mine.

Huh? Did she think they'd need a second home?

Mary

"Gordon H" wrote in message
...
In message , Mary Fisher
writes

I'm saddened by the urge to kill something which is a temporary
inconvenience.

The same could apply to some people ...

Mary

8-)
I share you reluctance to kill things, but can I ask, in a light-hearted
way, what is the use of a wasp?

Um, I've already said that they kill a large number of what we'd call pests
and they help other creatures deal with many animal and bird corpses which
might otherwise cause us offence - some of those would also be what we'd
call pests.

Do they pollinate?

Only occasionally, in passing as it were.

Seriously though, when I'm asked that question (which I am, very often) I
sometimes respond, "What is the use of a human?"

Mary

"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

The first time I was stung by a wasp it was on my bum. I looked in The
Readers Digest Book of First Aid, Home Remedies, or somesuch and read
that I
must hold the affected part under cold running water.

That book lost all credibility so it was dumped.

Hmmm. The best remedy for a wasp or hornet sting is IME to cut an onion
across and rub the stung part with it.

Anything acid has a neutralising effect, too, 'cos a wasp orr hornet
sting is alkaline.


BUT

Don't do that for a bee sting, which is acid.

Bicarbonate of soda, washing soda are favourites. The remedy used to be
blue-bag, but when was the last time you saw a blue-bag?

There's one in my kitchen cupboard.

But that acid/alkali theory is very old hat. Sorry. Bee and wasp stings are
different but it's nothing to do with the pH. They are both made up of very
complext proteins.

Mary

"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from Gordon H contains these words:
In message , Mary
Fisher writes

Don't worry about the nest, the wasps will die off in a couple of months
or
so and the nest won't be re-occupied. If you try to kill the wasps or
dig
out the nest while it's still occupied you're asking for trouble.

The council pest control man told me all that after he'd killed the
wasps in a corner of our loft. I called him because I was painting
the eaves of the house and they were buzzing in and out of a gap in the
woodwork as I worked. I'm not scared of wasps but the top of a
ladder is no place to be when they are constantly passing your head.!

I was up a ladder the other day and things the size of bombers kept
zooming by. I seem to have a hornets' nest in my gable-end.

They are very welcome. from time to time I see hornets flying about
carrying large caterpillars. Since I killed the last lot of caterpillars
on my jostaberries, the hornets (presumably) have kept them clear of any
more. Last year there were few hornets (nest about 250 yards away) and I
spent hours picking caterpillars of the jostaberries innit.

Hornets, while bigger than wasps, are relatively gentle.

Mary

"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from Michael Bell contains these words:

Ah! A lady who knows something that I want to know. My daughter gave
me a bumblebee nesting box for Christmas and I followed the
instructions which said that a mouse nest should be put in the nesting
box to attract bees, so I got my local pet shop to stable his mice
overnight in hay and put that hay into the box (Ah, the obligation
that some gifts put on you!), but no bees settled in it. What more can
I do? It'll have to be next season now of course.

You can find a discarded robin's nest if you can't find a fieldmouse
nest. It's not the mouse having been there, I suspect, but the very fine
ready-woven fabric that fieldmice use for their nests which is
attractive.

The bumble bees collect their own nesting material. If there's anything
suitable to hand they might well use it.

I once found a bumble bee nest in a hedge, it was very beautiful. Almost
spherical and 'woven' from moss, very small twigs, grass leaves and all
sorts of other things. A joy.

Mary

The message
from Gordon H contains these words:
In message , Mary Fisher
writes

I'm saddened by the urge to kill something which is a temporary
inconvenience.

The same could apply to some people ...

Mary

8-)
I share you reluctance to kill things, but can I ask, in a light-hearted
way, what is the use of a wasp?

They keep down pests in the garden - and elsewhere.

Do they pollinate?

Yes. Often, especially in the autumn.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

A neighbour came to my door to warn me that wasps had taken over her nest
box, and to check mine.

Huh? Did she think they'd need a second home?

No, she was probably cross-pollinating with uk.rec.legal, uk.rec.ufo, etc...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

In message , Mary Fisher
writes

"Gordon H" wrote in message

I share you reluctance to kill things, but can I ask, in a light-hearted
way, what is the use of a wasp?

Um, I've already said that they kill a large number of what we'd call pests

Goes to sit in naughty chair

and they help other creatures deal with many animal and bird corpses which
might otherwise cause us offence - some of those would also be what we'd
call pests.

Do they pollinate?

Only occasionally, in passing as it were.

Seriously though, when I'm asked that question (which I am, very often) I
sometimes respond, "What is the use of a human?"
Mary

Well, they either fertilise the land (eventually), or in my case I will
be added to the gravel paths along my favourite local hill walk, which
is where my wife's ashes were spread.
Helps to maintain the path.
--
Gordon H

In message , Mary Fisher
writes

But that acid/alkali theory is very old hat. Sorry. Bee and wasp stings are
different but it's nothing to do with the pH. They are both made up of very
complext proteins.

Mary

I can never remember which is supposed to be acid and which alkali, so I
always have antihistamine in my first aid kit, which is always in my
rucksack.
--
Gordon H

In message , Mary Fisher
writes

"Gordon H" wrote

A neighbour came to my door to warn me that wasps had taken over her nest
box, and to check mine.

Huh? Did she think they'd need a second home?

Mary

:-)
I haven't worked out yet why an attractive 40-ish married neighbour
occasionally rings my doorbell to tell me things like that! Last
time it was to say that someone had pushed coping stones off my front
wall and she had replaced them for me.
Then I won't see her for months...
--
Gordon H