WASPS AND HORNETS!
Most of us have had those moments of trying to enjoy a summer day while being pestered by a wasp or hornet. The sting hurts and people are afraid of them because of it.
BENEFITS
Most of the time these insects are beneficial. They hunt other insects, some of which are pests. They eat caterpillars, aphids, flies and spiders just to name a few. They eat them as well as feed them to their young. Some species also eat dead meat and are helpful in cleaning up what would be a problem.
They are also pollinators because they also feed on nectar. We definitely need more pollinators so this is a good thing. Paper wasps and red wasps do sting but they are still beneficial.
STING
While yellow jackets sting, not all wasps do. Trichogramma and braconid wasps don’t build nests and they don’t sting.
NESTS
Wasps overwinter and become active in the spring when the queen wakes up and starts looking for a place to nest. The chosen places can be anywhere from two-feet to sixty feet up. They tend to like eaves of buildings or other places where they might be protected a little from the elements. One nest can hold hundreds and hundreds of workers and larva. This means that there are a lot of other insects being eaten in the area and a fair amount of pollination happening.
PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM GETTING STUNG
Yellow jackets, including bald face hornets, which are actually a type of yellow jacket and not a hornet, like sweet things. Keep your food covered when having a picnic or eating outside. Covered beverages are a good idea. They like things like fruit, soda and pretty much anything with sugar so avoid making it easy for them. Also, perfumes, hair products and things that smell sweet are also attractants. Wearing long sleeves and avoiding having exposed skin can help too. Yellow jackets and wasps may be beneficial for the garden but we have to balance that with minimizing our risk of being stung.
If you choose to get rid of them, please choose nontoxic tools. When wildlife eat poisoned insects, it can make them sick or kill them. This can affect birds, fish, amphibians and more.
A BETTER WAY
I am not a fan of removing nests but will do it when it is a danger to someone. One occurence was for a friend who is very allergic and was terrified to leave her house because there was a nest on her front eave. On the rare occurrence that I remove a wasp or yellow jacket nest, I do it in the wee hours of the morning while it is still cool and misty. They are usually somewhat dormant in the cool hours so it lowers the risk of them coming out to sting me. They are also usually all in the nest.
I wear gloves and long sleeves etc. I tie my hair back and have it in a ponytail. If you have ever had stinging insects in your hair, you’ll appreciate this reminder! Then I place a plastic bag around the nest.. I choose a thick bag that has no holes. I then break the nest off of whatever it is attached to. This might be with a machete or whatever gets the job done quickly and with the bag around the nest. Then I tie the open end, after trying to press some of the air out, place it in a second bag and proceed smashing the nest and its contents. No it isn’t nice, nor is it something I enjoy doing, but it is the environmentally safest way to do it that I know of.
Comment below about your experience with these type of insects.
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