A hornet appears to have moved into my kitchen. And I've abandoned ship

[Felshampo]

I have been really saddened by the tone of this thread. The hymenoptera, bees wasps and ants , are a huge group of insects that are an essential part of our wildlife fauna. I thought that living close to nature on a canal would make people more sympathetic to these occasionally annoying insects. I always have a wasp nest somewhere in or around our house. They like to go under the floorboards in the front room but the attic and outside sheds are also favourite. The last time I was stung by a wasp was about thirty years ago. If you don' t flap about then they ignore you. I have had two hornet nests inthe garden and they were brilliant, watching them patrolling the hedges looking for food. I did get stung a few times when i foolishly tried to find the entrance to the nest in a dead stump but a hornets sting is less than a wasp or bee and soon faded.

As for spending £40 on pest control, as a lady in our village did, is simply a waste of money. Just wait to the end of the year and they abandon the nest.

[Grace and Favour]

Nutmeg!

 

Richard

Ha! - My name's not Meg!

[Sir Nibble]

I have been really saddened by the tone of this thread. The hymenoptera, bees wasps and ants , are a huge group of insects that are an essential part of our wildlife fauna. I thought that living close to nature on a canal would make people more sympathetic to these occasionally annoying insects. I always have a wasp nest somewhere in or around our house. They like to go under the floorboards in the front room but the attic and outside sheds are also favourite. The last time I was stung by a wasp was about thirty years ago. If you don' t flap about then they ignore you. I have had two hornet nests inthe garden and they were brilliant, watching them patrolling the hedges looking for food. I did get stung a few times when i foolishly tried to find the entrance to the nest in a dead stump but a hornets sting is less than a wasp or bee and soon faded.

As for spending £40 on pest control, as a lady in our village did, is simply a waste of money. Just wait to the end of the year and they abandon the nest.

If BSP had blundered all unwitting into their nest they would have gone into a defensive behaviour and stung the skin off her. This one has blundered all unwitting into her nest and she has got all defensive about it. People are part of nature not tyrant enemies of everything natural, and sometimes we defend ourselves against natural dangers. Don't we have a right to sting too?

[Felshampo]

If BSP had blundered all unwitting into their nest they would have gone into a defensive behaviour and stung the skin off her. This one has blundered all unwitting into her nest and she has got all defensive about it. People are part of nature not tyrant enemies of everything natural, and sometimes we defend ourselves against natural dangers. Don't we have a right to sting too?

The danger from Bees wasps and ants is minimal most of the time! I have never heard of insects "sting the skin off " anyone. The only real danger is anaphylaxis which is pretty rare. If you take the time to understand what the insects are about then you don't need to "sting" ( euphamism for kill I presume ) them.

[RLWP]

The danger from Bees wasps and ants is minimal most of the time! I have never heard of insects "sting the skin off " anyone. The only real danger is anaphylaxis which is pretty rare. If you take the time to understand what the insects are about then you don't need to "sting" ( euphamism for kill I presume ) them.

 

I have a lot of sympathy for your point of view - I find wasps particularly fascinating, we have also had a white tail bumble bee nest this year in the shed

 

I can also see why BSP doesn't want a big insect with a sting in her boat. I would be trying to evict it alive if only because I don't want to fill my boat with poisonous spray or set fire to it. Both of those are hazardous to human health

 

Insects have no hesitation in killing each other of course, and it is the success of a colony that counts, not the individuals

 

Richard

[Sir Nibble]

I have seen both bees and wasps "monster" a person. No blame to them, they believe themselves to be fighting for their community and their lives. Sense of proportion. BSP has rights in her own home to kill a wasp FFS. She's not poisoning honeybee colonies or great crested newts she just wants to get shot of a bug.

[Felshampo]

I have seen both bees and wasps "monster" a person. No blame to them, they believe themselves to be fighting for their community and their lives. Sense of proportion. BSP has rights in her own home to kill a wasp FFS. She's not poisoning honeybee colonies or great crested newts she just wants to get shot of a bug.

I have had hornets come into our home on several occasions. Never saw the need to kill them.

Sense of proportion - I couldn't agree more.

she just wants to get shot of a bug.

Wasps are hymenoptera not heteroptera!

[Felshampo]

. She's not poisoning honeybee colonies or great crested newts she just wants to get shot of a bug.

What makes honeybees or great crested newts better than wasps?

[RLWP]

Cuteness

 

Richard

[Sir Nibble]

the only source of rights there is, the law.

[Jim Riley]

Wasps go out when you talk to them and ask nicely. Not had chance to try it with hornets.

[Felshampo]

the only source of rights there is, the law.

Apparently according to wasp law thats bollocks!

[Ray T]

Suck it up with a vacuum cleaner.

[patty-ann]

I am afraid i have to disagree with some recent comments from the gentleman regarding the wasps and maybe hornets.

I apologise profusely for taking issue but having witnessed first hand the effects on innocent people set upon by many wasps for simply walking near an underground nest. I, myself cannot welcome the little darlings into my abode. In fact I actively deter them, I do not chose to visit them and they are not welcome in my house.

[Felshampo]

I am afraid i have to disagree with some recent comments from the gentleman regarding the wasps and maybe hornets.

I apologise profusely for taking issue but having witnessed first hand the effects on innocent people set upon by many wasps for simply walking near an underground nest. I, myself cannot welcome the little darlings into my abode. In fact I actively deter them, I do not chose to visit them and they are not welcome in my house.

I have been fortunate to take hundreds of children and adults on many field courses studying insects. In that time we have often come upon wasp and hornet nests. By simply going in the opposite direction and not attacking the insects I can say I have never had anyone in these groups "set upon" some have been stung but I regard the stinging nettle more unpleasant.

I am not advocating that you welcome them into your abode! However the use of chemicals, electric zappers and the rest to kill them I do disagree with.

When I had my first car back in the seventies the first thing you had to do before cleaning it was to remove the huge numbers of squashed insects from the screen and bonnet. Due to the catastrophic collapse of insect numbers over the past fifty years that problem is a thing of the past. ONE of the reasons for this decline is that far too many people just see insects (and lots of other wildlife) as pests to be killed.

If I had a £ for everytime I had been asked " whats the point of....( insert insect name ) I could afford to buy a boat.

 

Sorry....rant over.

[dor]

Well Felshampo, in my experience of a number of ways of interacting with wildlife, I think your post is worth a greenie. Just spot on; insests provide a very valuable service, especially wasps which predate so many other very annoying insects.

[system 4-50]

I look forward to the day when all insects are extinct except for human-designed & engineered ones. There are billions of permutations that could exist and I expect there will be several that are pretty and don't bite people. There is nothing special about those that just happen to exist at present. And the sooner we can break the chain that only things that eat other things can exist the better.

(With fluffy bits).

[MtB]

I think the reduction in squashed insects on windscreens is more to do with the vastly improved aerodynamic design of cars, and the large, shallowly sloped windscreens we have compared to back in the 70's.

 

MtB

[Paul G2]

I look forward to the day when all insects are extinct except for human-designed & engineered ones. There are billions of permutations that could exist and I expect there will be several that are pretty and don't bite people. There is nothing special about those that just happen to exist at present. And the sooner we can break the chain that only things that eat other things can exist the better.

(With fluffy bits).

 

First they came for the insects, and I did not speak out because I am not an insect....

 

We have on this earth what is called the "food chain". All of us are part of it, however humble or grand our position on said chain. When one part of that food chain collapses, the rest of the food chain is in danger of collapsing. You can rant and rave at this fact all you want, and sputter whatever nonsense comes to your mind, but the fact of the matter is that what you wish for would have devastating consequences for all life on earth.

 

Seriously, do you have any idea how important flying insects are vis-a-vis the fact that they pollinate our food crops? Do you really think that, if Monsanto, for instance, were to genetically engineer a pollinating insect they would be interested in anything other than their own profit? Do you think Monsanto would care for even a millisecond if their creations stung you?

[Sir Nibble]

hells teeth! Food chain, yes, and we're at the top of it. I cannot believe that a persons morale right to kill a wasp in their own home is even called into question.

[bassplayer]

There's something about this forum...I did an open air gig last night in Bedfordshire. There were two huge English hornets (Ok..Euro Hornets) bugging everyone all night. I don't know if they got attracted by the UV or disliked what we were playing, but one ended landing on my chest midway through a tricky number...maybe they just need love like the rest of us...

[Jerra]

The problem with getting rid of insects as advocated by system 4-50 is that it would probably result in the extinction of man and perhaps many other living things.

 

Wasps, hornets and bees don't in my experience (very long living close to them in country) just set on people for no reason. Chris Packham frequently tell of how he has studied wasps and hornets by having a number of nests suspended from the ceiling in his living room. If they just attacked for no reason he wouldn't have managed this.

 

Bees can be a bit stroppy if you walk into the flight path at the entrance to the hive but do tend to warn you before they attack. Again just my experience. I have certainly found no reason for swatting every wasp of bee that enters the house. Generally just open the window and out they go, if all else fails catch them with a glass as already explained.

[Paul G2]

hells teeth! Food chain, yes, and we're at the top of it. I cannot believe that a persons morale right to kill a wasp in their own home is even called into question.

 

Since I'm the only one nearby who mentioned food chain recently, I assume you are replying to me. Did you read the quote that I replied to? Here's the salient part:

 

system 4-50, on 22 Jun 2014 - 12:03 PM, said:

 

I look forward to the day when all insects are extinct except for human-designed & engineered ones.

 

 

 

 

 

It is an absurd statement that has nothing to do with swatting insects that invade one's home.

 

As for being top of the food chain, so was the T-Rex, once upon a time.

[Felshampo]

The problem with getting rid of insects as advocated by system 4-50 is that it would probably result in the extinction of man and perhaps many other living things.

 

Wasps, hornets and bees don't in my experience (very long living close to them in country) just set on people for no reason. Chris Packham frequently tell of how he has studied wasps and hornets by having a number of nests suspended from the ceiling in his living room. If they just attacked for no reason he wouldn't have managed this.

 

Bees can be a bit stroppy if you walk into the flight path at the entrance to the hive but do tend to warn you before they attack. Again just my experience. I have certainly found no reason for swatting every wasp of bee that enters the house. Generally just open the window and out they go, if all else fails catch them with a glass as already explained.

I totally agree.

hells teeth! Food chain, yes, and we're at the top of it. I cannot believe that a persons morale right to kill a wasp in their own home is even called into question.

Lack of morals more like, and bacteria are the top of the food chain , not us.

I think the reduction in squashed insects on windscreens is more to do with the vastly improved aerodynamic design of cars, and the large, shallowly sloped windscreens we have compared to back in the 70's.

MtB

I don't think that the bonnet and headlights are more aerodynamic now

[Henhouse]

The problem with getting rid of insects as advocated by system 4-50 is that it would probably result in the extinction of man

 

Try telling that to the millions of mankind who have died from malaria.

 

I am not advocating mass extinction of anything, but this hysteria over one unwelcome visitor to BSP's boat is farcical.

BSP's home, BSP's rules apply.