Wasps

[Jerra]

Grin and bear it!

[little duck!]

Vet gave us antihistamine tablets as dog has habit of chasing wasps said over the counter human ones are ok for her too and cheaper!

[dccruiser]

Vet gave us antihistamine tablets as dog has habit of chasing wasps said over the counter human ones are ok for her too and cheaper!

Used to give my dog human ones as she had a habit of putting her nose where she shouldnt! best ones i have found are from Lloyds pharmacy, far cheaper than the branded ones

 

Rick

[Rambling]

I read that the Trick is a bowl of vinegar with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of salt. Leave the bowl out ... Bye bye waspies

 

https://completegarden.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/bee-safe-wasp-trap-how-to-make-your-own-for-free

Edited March 28, 2015 by Rambling

[Phil Ambrose]

Antihistamine cream and tablets??

Deffo, I have had plenty of bee stings with no real issues but the one occasion that a wasp stung me my whole arm swelled quite alarmingly. A word at the Chemist brought relief in the form of antihistamine tablets and cream.

Phil

[Keeping Up]

On the subject of wasps what does everyone find helps if stung so I can get supplies in case. I was stung last year and only had vinegar on the boat.

If you have nothing else available, vinegar is the best thing for wasp stings because they are caustic and the acid of the vinegar neutralises this. Remember it by "UVW - Use Vinegar for Wasps".

 

The opposite applies for bees whose sting is acidic. The old mnemonic was "BBB - Blue Bag for Bees" but nobody uses Blue Bags of washing soda in their washing now (you get blue specks in the washing powder instead) so Baking powder would probably be more available. Plus of course you need to remove the sting.

 

I don't know about hornets but I'd expect them to be similar to wasps but more so.

[Phil Ambrose]

Ref. Hornets, I read recently that we are now lucky enough to now have a new strain of Hornet which has found it's way here from across the channel (thanks global warming) and these are proving to be very aggressive indeed unlike our fairly benign home grown Hornets.

Phil

[stickleback]

Sounds like queen wasps. I get them overwintering each year in my workshop and they can emerge anytime from Feb onwards. Last spring I killed about 5 of them over a few months - each one will make a nest and can produce scores of wasps. I even found one which had overwintered in a metronome - it was still sleeping when I found it so was easier to dispatch!

 

I've only once had a hornet in the house - make a deep, loud sound like a motor scooter, bigger than a queen wasp, and the bits which on a wasp are black are a deep brick red on a hornet. Latin for Hornet is vespa - perhaps why the motor scooter was called that???!

[David Mack]

The opposite applies for bees whose sting is acidic. The old mnemonic was "BBB - Blue Bag for Bees" but nobody uses Blue Bags of washing soda in their washing now (you get blue specks in the washing powder instead) so Baking powder would probably be more available. Plus of course you need to remove the sting.

To remove a bee sting run the edge of something like a credit card across the surface of the skin. This will remove the sting with least ill effect. If you try and grab the sting with tweezers or finger nails you will squeeze more of the toxin into your flesh.

[craftycarper]

Hello,

I have a strange question! We have been going to the boat most weekends for last few months but not staying overnight, we have had engine running and fire going so all cosy! We are due to have a short break over Easter but have now become a liitle concerned. The last few visits a wasp has appeared on the kitche worktop, i hear a loud buzz and it appears but not sure where from. This has happened at least three times now and each wasp has been quite large ( well to me who hates them they are!). There is only a buzzing just before i see the wasp i cant hear it any other time and onlu usually one wasp each time (disposed of- sorry animalt lovers!) Last week one shot from the kitchen area and i think it stung the dog before i got to it.

Is it likely we have a wasp nest where would i look and what do i do? Or am i over reacting to the stingy buggers and seeing a co-incidence (always in kitchen) where there is none?

Look forward to your replies!

if you had a nest and as said already, wasps die in winter, it is normally a very delicate paper ball type thing, I find them in roofs and ceilings all the time when I,m working in people's houses, in fact I would say more people have them than don',t, I have only ever found bees nesting in places like behind your cupboards, and you would be able to smell it as they kick out quite a pong as well as obvious bee activity

[Dave Clinton]

Ref. Hornets, I read recently that we are now lucky enough to now have a new strain of Hornet which has found it's way here from across the channel (thanks global warming) and these are proving to be very aggressive indeed unlike our fairly benign home grown Hornets.

Phil

 

Bloody immigrants. I blame the EU.

[Timleech]

 

Bloody immigrants. I blame the EU.

 

They're asian immigrants, actually. The european hornet is the same as ours. Common market & all that.

Trouble is, the asian ones have arrived in France and are probably camped out in Calais hoping to sneak onto the ferries.

 

Tim

[matty40s]

I swatted 14 of the blighters on Saturday. Lit the stove in the latest boat and they started to appear as they warmed up.quite a few were very easy targets, still cocooned in their curtain folds.

[KevMc]

We were advised by a pest controller to leave one of those solid vapona fly killers in the loft to deter the queens from nesting there .... it might work on a boat as well

[Woodstock]

I have had a few stings, personally they dont bother me too much, but i carry both antihistamine tablets and cream in the first aid box

 

Rick

Sorry, cross posted with TG

Same as- also Tiger balm helps to reduce the swelling and any itching

[pquinn]

 

Bloody immigrants. I blame the EU.

Yeah! comin' over here and stealing our pollen.

[Jerra]

Yeah! comin' over here and stealing our pollen.

Worse coming over here and killing our bees. The Asian Hornet is a serious pest to bee keepers.

[cuthound]

Let's hope there not followed over by Jihadi Longlegs

[astalweeks]

Grin and bear it!

 

Gin and bear it more like it

[Peter X]

The last time we had no wood left on the boat and hadnt used fire! I Think as someone mentioned they were on the curtains asthis makes sense as they landed on kitchen worktop. I shook ans checked the curtains today and there was no sign of any flying creature! On the subject of wasps what does everyone find helps if stung so I can get supplies in case. I was stung last year and only had vinegar on the boat. Wasp was on arm as I started to use windlass as my arm bent..... ow! Then a week later I felt something land on my neck tried to flick it with hand and it stung my finger, did I mention I really don't like wasps!

Exactly this happened to me once too. My fingertip hurt a lot for a few minutes, then I found some antihistamine cream and applied that, and over the next few minutes the pain subsided.

 

Edited because I'd hit Post when I needed Bold, durrr.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Peter X

[MtB]

We find if we talk to wasps nicely, giving them the option of leaving or being blatted, they often go quietly.

 

That's interesting, I do this too.

 

I give them one chance to go, and they usually take it.

 

MtB