I once bought a house with two pear trees, and I quickly learned to pick up any fruit that dropped on the ground. The juice would ferment under the skin, and yellow jackets would pierce the skins, and get drunk. Then they’d chase me around the yard when I tried to work in my big organic vegetable garden.
It turns out, yellow jackets are mean drunks, but that’s probably not a surprise.
Paper wasps have a unique perspective of “provoked.”
I was tired so I just decided to land and rest on your head. Why are you provoking me?
I was building a nest in the only door you use to come in and out of your house. When you tried to leave, I flew directly into your path and basically body checked you. Why are you provoking me?
Yeah, those wasps are assholes, just not quite as much of assholes as yellow jackets. Weirdly enough, I’ve been stung by everything on this list that is capable of doing so including bumble bees. Bees hate me and I hate them, but I still refrain from killing them because we need them around.
I always avoid killing bees but I am terrified of wasps. I grew up getting stung by these fuckers constantly. That’s how I found out I’m allergic.
They’re extremely aggressive and live in giant nests together. If you kill one, it releases pheromones or something that signals to the others and they swarm. I would beg my parents to do something about them because they made life absolutely miserable, but they had this weird fatalist attitude about them like “the wasps were here long before we were. They’ll be here long after.”
Realized as an adult that decoy paper wasps nests are very cheap and work surprisingly well as a repellent. You can also just use a brown paper sack. Could have saved myself from some very traumatic encounters if I had known that sooner.
Honey Bee
is the bee that needs help the most
I’d argue the opposite. There are thousands species of solitary native bees in small niches that need help way more. By contrast honey bees are either livestock or feral livestock that are competing with the native bees.
Yes. Thank you. When I was a bee keeper I learned some about the things. Do honey bees have various issues and struggles … Sure. Are the large varieties of native wild bees soooo much more fucked - yep. Yes they are.
Yay came here for this. I was all excited to start a couple of beehives in my back yard. Then I discovered their lineage and what they’re doing to the native bees. Instead I realized I am hosting tons of huge ass bumblebees in my yard, and I’ll just let them be(e). Maybe get some of those bee houses for solitary bees instead.
Also, it’s better to grow native plants than to provide a house. A house without food is useless.
I love bumblebees so much. Just saw a couple flying in 70km/h wind gusts today. So stupid. So graceful
This list seems to have been written by paper wasps cause that’s the only bullshit on here. Those things will sing you for whatever reason it deems necessary.fuck those things
My most recent run in with these fuckers involved one building a nest in the BED OF MY TRUCK and then stinging me after I drove to work and got out. Bastards. I respect most insects but wasps get the death spray without question.
Death spray, every time!
They are all over the place here. They are Satan incarnate and will sting the shit out of you for any or no reason.
I was eating some chicken outside.
A yellow jacket buzzed around.
So I held a little teeny-tiny piece of it for it.
Things seem to be okay; but then I felt it.
Was it a sting or was it a bite?
Maybe it mistook my thumb for some of the chicken—chicken is often greasy.
It wasn’t really painful, but I decided it wore out it’s welcome, so I probably flicked it away.
I don’t think I ever saw it again.
At another time, a few came through my window.
So I put some syrup on a cap to see what will happen.
A few more flew in.
They drank it up—they sure seem to like syrup a lot.
I guess after they had their fill, the flew away—“buzzed off” if you will.
I love how this is formatted like a poem
Unintentionally pressed my elbow into a hive if red paper wasps.
STRAIGHT FUCKING FIRE 🔥🔥🔥. Don’t recommend it. 3\10.
You must’ve liked it at least a little bit to rate it 3/10. Admit it.
Lol. Gotta leave a little room down there for the “it can always get worse” section.
In my experience, the paper wasp description applies to the yellow jackets. They are fairly common around outdoor eating areas around here, especially near the garbage cans. I find they mostly just check out the food, though they will check you out, too, and will sometimes get right into your face, but I’ve found a good way of reclaiming your space is to slowly push them away. You probably won’t even make contact with them while you do so because they react fast.
Though I’ve also noticed that they (and bugs in general) are more interested in some people over others and I’m lucky to be on the low interest to bugs side of the spectrum.
Y’all sleeping on black soldier flies.
They’re copycats that look like mud daubbers, but have no ability to sting or bite. They don’t readily transmit human diseases, and they compete with noxious species like house flies and roaches. Present in most places across the globe.
Their larvae are the most-efficient known converts of input biomass to output protein, they can compost most household foods quite easily, and they’re an excellent animal feed.
Dirt Daubers do not build nests in the ground. They build single solitary cells one at a time. Sometimes on top to each other but often in separate places. They do not live in the nests - they just lay larvae and a dead bug inside for those who come after.
I have them all over my garage. I have accepted that something will live in the eaves and they are the least aggressive to humans. They are territorial and they will keep the other “wasps” away.
I can literally scrape their nests off and throw them out in front of them.
Absolutely zero parental instincts.
will let you pet it without getting agitated
Wait, seriously?!
If you ever have chilly spring/fall mornings, you can often find one perched on a flower “sleeping in”. (Really their metabolisms just slow way down in the cold, and they’re waiting for the sun to hit.) You can get some tiny pets in for sure. It’s nice.
be gentle though, they’re just little guys
One landed on the hand of my sister and wasn’t bothered by her petting it.
But this is highly anecdotal.Don’t ever “catch” a bumblebee between your hands. It will sting/bite (idk what they do, someone said they bite but I’m not sure) and that hurts like hell! Did that one time as a kid thinking they can’t do anything and regretted it really quickly!
Yeah, to me all of these scream “Run tf away, go inside and don’t come back out until tomorrow.” (I am deafly afraid of bees)
Some countries have honey bee colonies that turn agressive. But normal honey bees, the ones in the picture, are usually homies that won’t sting unless seriously agitated. And unlike those fucking wasps they don’t repeatedly put themselves in a position to be agitated. As a kid I used to be obsessed with insects. I’ve been stung by bees and wasps multiple times. Every time a bee stung me it was my fault, I tried to catch them so I could see them better, often thinking it was one of those hover flies pretending to be a bee. Wasps however have repeatedly stung me because they’re assholes. And way more often they’ve almost stung me because they’re assholes. Bumblebees are extremely chill, they usually just let me do whatever, although I also tended to leave then alone.
Also bumblebees?
Wasps are chill (the yellow ones), if you don’t try to kill them and don’t feed them sugar.
Ok, there was that autumn with lots of overripe fruits. They also get aggressive with alcohol.Observed one eating my bread last year in a street coffee. They can eat surprisingly much in a equally surprising short time.
Carpenter bees are so cool. I love them. They don’t ever dart at me either. Usually just other carpenter bees. My recollection is the males have white dots in their heads and don’t have stingers at all, and they’re the ones that typically guard the best (by hovering around).
