Wasp Alert!

~ beetleypete

I am trying to think if I ever saw wasps this early in the year. Those stinging insect pests are a summer regular, annoyingly buzzing around drinks and food during hot weather, or hovering around overstuffed litter bins at coastal resorts.

It has been sunny this week, but not exactly warm, let alone hot. Yet the wasps have arrived many months too early. They have been in the kitchen, inside the shed, and buzzing noisily around partially-opened windows.

Naturally, they get no mercy from me. Immediate application of the plastic fly swat has already dealt with some of them, and it has been left to hand for any further waspish intruders.

Let’s hope the Murder Hornets have not woken up too, and are making their way to Beetley.

50 thoughts on “Wasp Alert!”

  2. I had to wait forty odd years to be stung by a wasp and then it was multiple times and now seems to happen every year. A can of wasp killer is always on hand if they nest too close to the house. Screaming children seem to be their target. Thankfully the hornets, which often building nests in our barn, are mostly dormant during the day and I have learned to live with them (I would not be brave enough to try and kill a nest)

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  4. Two summers ago my bbq backyard party had about 20 unwanted guests and forced us all back inside… 🙄😒 Hate the darn wasps, but the murder hornets… 👀👁️😬😟 Let’s hope they get that under control!

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  5. By the way, have you heard of velvet ants? They are actually wasps. We have them here in the Mojave Desert. The males fly, but don’t sting. The females sting, but can’t fly. I played with a female velvet ant the first time I saw one, but had no idea what it was… Their nickname is “cow killer,” but (luckily for me) they are not aggressive. I later wrote a song entitled “Velvet Ant” about a woman that I likened to her female wasp counterpart.

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  13. They’re all over the school playground. It does seem early this year. I was stung last year by one. My fingers were stiff and swollen, much worse than a bee sting. Welcome spring?

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      1. Not sure, as we had snow recently and temperatures haven’t been very warm. I have discovered over the years that animals seem to cyclical. Some years we have mice, some years bats, some years ants, and so on. It is rarely consistent from year to year. Interesting.

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  14. Maybe there is a wasps nest near your house Pete? I once had one in my garden (Donny) in an old tree stump. You just had to be careful walking through their flight path, but eventually there were so many I got someone in to remove the nest.

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    1. I had a huge wasp’s nest in the loft of the Wimbledon house once. I had to pay the Council to come and remove it. It was fascinating and intricate, I have to admit that.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  15. I haven’t seen any wasps yet and don’t usually get pestered until Autumn. Last May though, we were invaded by various types of bees. I avoid pesticides on roses etc so maybe they felt cocky buzzing about and invited their mates. I had to take action when they set up homes in my airbricks. This was the subject of one of my first posts ‘Garden pests thrive in lockdown’.

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    1. I haven’t been stung by a bee since I trod on one by accident as a child. But I have been stung by wasps on several occasions. I let bees do their thing, and guide them out if they come in, but wasps inside have to take their chances against my swatter.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. My dad used to put a dish of beer at the back of the garden, wasps like beer apparently as it would have a fair few drowned ones at the end of the day. We just shoo them out if we get one in the conservator.

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    1. I bought wasp traps when I first moved here. Put something sweet like cider in the bottom, and the wasps drink it, get drunk, and drown. But I didn’t manage to get many of them, and others still came inside all the time, so I took them down.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  18. I tend to take a more benevolent approach these days. Wasps are pollinators and I usually find that if you leave them alone they’ll reciprocate. Unless of course you’re eating a jam sandwich …

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      1. I have had similar reactions. I got stung about four years ago and I still get itchiness on my neck and chest from it. This sting happened in the garden after I accidentally disturbed a nest on the ground . . a single wasp chased me!!
        However, it’s a pity wasps have such a bad reputation and I’m sure you try very hard to restrain your swatting.
        All the best x

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  19. Don’t kill wasps even if they ruin your picnic – they’re just as important as bees, scientists warn. Wasps are being wiped out as quickly as bees – and their disappearance will be just as disastrous, according to new research.

    Sorry Pete . . xx

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    1. I don’t kill them outside, but as I have a severe allergic reaction to their sting, I can’t chance allowing them to stay inside the house mate.
      Love to you both. xx

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