Saw the first paper #wasp queen claiming one of the #WaspHouse-s this afternoon in our #communityGarden plot—#GardenPlot14!
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
@otterX if you leave coloured paper out for them they make rainbow nests!
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I love them, always happy to see them. They used to winter in a bee hotel in the garden in my last house... (I moved house last summer)
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
@otterX we have some of this little fellows in our gardenhouse. They reappear every year in the same place and build their nest there, always in the same spot of the gardenhouse. They are very peaceful and cool animals. Even if you get close to their hive they stay calm. They fly all over our garden, easy to separate from other wasps by their long legs.
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
@otterX
That's really cool. I kind of assumed that pretty much all wasps were fairly aggressive, which is weird because I don't assume the same about bees, especially bumble bees.It's funny/weird the assumptions that we get programmed with by society.
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@otterX
That's really cool. I kind of assumed that pretty much all wasps were fairly aggressive, which is weird because I don't assume the same about bees, especially bumble bees.It's funny/weird the assumptions that we get programmed with by society.
@Blort @otterX The paper wasps around here are aggressive, at least if you're randomly doing gardening stuff and you accidentally disturb their nest.
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
The nests look like what's pictured, but the wasp are red rather than yellow.
Personally, I have learned to just deal with the occasional sting when I make a mistake. Different venoms have different effects. Our paper wasps have stings that HURT A LOT, but only for a few seconds. The pain does not linger.
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@Blort @otterX The paper wasps around here are aggressive, at least if you're randomly doing gardening stuff and you accidentally disturb their nest.
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
The nests look like what's pictured, but the wasp are red rather than yellow.
Personally, I have learned to just deal with the occasional sting when I make a mistake. Different venoms have different effects. Our paper wasps have stings that HURT A LOT, but only for a few seconds. The pain does not linger.
@Blort @otterX We have a lot of other types of wasp, but I've never been stung by any of them.
I'm comparing to red ant stings, where the pain lingers and the sting area itself remains irritated for some time. And also caterpillars, where the pain lingers a lot!
But these paper wasps? The sting hurts a lot more, but only for a short time. And it doesn't leave an irritated spot. So I just mentally gird myself knowing that the pain won't last much longer.
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@otterX if you leave coloured paper out for them they make rainbow nests!
@Cognissart haha… I have to try that! Thanks!
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@Blort @otterX We have a lot of other types of wasp, but I've never been stung by any of them.
I'm comparing to red ant stings, where the pain lingers and the sting area itself remains irritated for some time. And also caterpillars, where the pain lingers a lot!
But these paper wasps? The sting hurts a lot more, but only for a short time. And it doesn't leave an irritated spot. So I just mentally gird myself knowing that the pain won't last much longer.
@isaackuo They must be a different type of paper wasps in the south? Thank you for sharing your experience. I appreciate it.
I’ve been stung by a yellow jacket once (in Cape Cod), oh that was very painful, but only for a brief period of time, and left no mark.
I’ve also been stung by a small bumblebee, who got accidentally drenched by a garden hose and I was letting her dry on my hand. It didn’t hurt much, only a little prick. I think that cured the arthritis. lol
The paper wasps we have here (in Boston MA) are European paper wasps, I think, and it takes a lot to piss them off. So I was able to move the hives to nearby wasp houses without much worry. Never got stung by them.
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@isaackuo They must be a different type of paper wasps in the south? Thank you for sharing your experience. I appreciate it.
I’ve been stung by a yellow jacket once (in Cape Cod), oh that was very painful, but only for a brief period of time, and left no mark.
I’ve also been stung by a small bumblebee, who got accidentally drenched by a garden hose and I was letting her dry on my hand. It didn’t hurt much, only a little prick. I think that cured the arthritis. lol
The paper wasps we have here (in Boston MA) are European paper wasps, I think, and it takes a lot to piss them off. So I was able to move the hives to nearby wasp houses without much worry. Never got stung by them.
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
@otterX I was once stung by a paper wasp, but that was totally my fault, I basically almost poke a finger into their nest when fixing a rain gutter. In every other occasion they were nice to me
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
@otterX I’ve found that if you disturb an established nest with brood then they’ll try to defend it, but given a safe nesting spot they’ll happily ignore you while hunting pests in your garden. I’m happy I made peace with them once I figured out they weren’t yellow jackets.
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Saw the first paper #wasp queen claiming one of the #WaspHouse-s this afternoon in our #communityGarden plot—#GardenPlot14! 🥰 *made my day*
I believe they inherit the memory of their ancestors’ unsuccessful nest building in our plastic garden tool storage bench, and of the failed nest having been moved to the wooden wasp house nearby.
This wasp queen was hovering near the tool bench before deciding to go into the wasp house. They can learn, but it seems to take a few generations.
@otterX also for other #wasp friends this book is amazing https://www.owlflyllc.com/publishing/the-social-wasps-of-north-america
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
@otterX
They'll also eat caterpillar pests like cabbage moths
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
Here’s the video: the moving of a paperWasp hive (in 2017 before I thought of the #waspHouse ). They thrived that summer.
As I shared a recent photo... - @otterX | Loops.video
As I shared a recent... • 24 likes • 2 comments
(loops.video)
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I just want more people to know #paperWasps are a great #pollinators in the garden. They’re docile, or timid, and never bother you while #gardening. They’re more slender than yellow jackets and nests in eves and crevices, making the honeycomb hive.
@otterX paper wasps are very chill and always welcome in our yard.
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