Wasps

[wullie]

We are noticing we are having a few large wasps on our boat , we can go a week or so nothing then we get one, same next day most we had is two the same day don't know where they are coming from, anybody shed some light on it.

,

[Bod]

Over wintering Queens.

Every one you squash, is one less nest next summer.

 

Bod

[Jerra]

Over wintering Queens.

Every one you squash, is one less nest next summer.

 

Bod

Which would be a great shame when you consider the amount of pest control they do.

[Nightwatch]

But you don't want them on a boat.

[mrsmelly]

But you don't want them on a boat.

 

Or in my bloomin Cafe Garden this summer

[Phil.]

Actually every one you squash will mean approx 10,000 less of the nasty little blighters in the summer.

[Jerra]

Actually every one you squash will mean approx 10,000 less of the nasty little blighters in the summer.

And an awful lot more of pests including biting insects - so its a choice be stung or be bitten.

[ditchcrawler]

And an awful lot more of pests including biting insects - so its a choice be stung or be bitten.

Every thing is there for a reason, even wasps http://www.jcehrlich.com/blog/what-is-the-purpose-of-wasps/

[Kieron G]

I'm with ditchcrawler for what it's worth.

[Jerra]

I'm with ditchcrawler for what it's worth.

He is saying what I have been hinting at so obviously I agree. We tamper with the balance of nature at our peril, ask the Australians about Rabbits.

[haza]

they do more good then harm .and thats coming of someone who was stung twice last year ...sorry 3 times the other one was midland swindlers

[Phil Ambrose]

Wasps often find their way into coal sacks either when its bagged up or via the little tears in the bags which they often have. They survive being decanted from bag to coal scuttle and as they warm up they find their way out. I've had this problem as have my neighbours

Phil

Edited January 17, 2017 by Phil Ambrose

[Peter X]

That's an interesting and plausible theory from Phil, although I wonder why a wasp would choose to go into a coal bag in the first place.

 

Speaking as someone who spent some time last year on coal boats, I can say that though we do our best to look after the bags, they are thrown during loading and unloading and sometimes need to be moved about in between to adjust the trim (bow to stern, or to correct a list), and sometimes get trodden on. All this does result in little tears in the plastic, but when we need a bag for one of the stoves we tend to pick the most torn one. One bag last year had a particularly hard time, having acquired a big tear from the bank edging then taken a dip in the Wey. I grabbed it before it sank, hauled it out minus a few lumps and back onto the boat, then we dried it in the sun and it eventually got burned in the autumn. We carry spares to cater for casual sales, so the customer got a good bag.

[matty40s]

I picked up a boat in early March that had been sat at Whilton for a long time and moved it to Ely.

After lighting the stove on day 2, a wasp was seen, then another. Over the next 2 days 14 of the bleeders were either flying around or found in curtain folds.

They received a folded copy of the Observer as their last request.

[mrsmelly]

they do more good then harm .and thats coming of someone who was stung twice last year ...sorry 3 times the other one was midland swindlers

 

Ahh Midland swindlers....yes we have all been bitten there once but thats all it takes to realise it is not possible to find anywhere else that expensive so we never go again.

[Richard T]

[quote name="matty40s" post="1945797" timestamp="1484639001

They received a folded copy of the Observer as their last request.

 

Very green using a recycled newspaper as a swotter. Appreciate the choice of newspaper I look forward to the cartoon each day.

[dor]

Watch out for the groggy ones crawling on the floor as well, if you don't have shoes on.

 

I once had one object to my foot by stinging me under my big toe. Not to be recommended. That one certainly wont be hatching a brood.

[tree monkey]

Watch out for the groggy ones crawling on the floor as well, if you don't have shoes on.

 

I once had one object to my foot by stinging me under my big toe. Not to be recommended. That one certainly wont be hatching a brood.

I've been caught out by that, although it didnt sting, they have a very strange spikey/hairy and finally crunchy under foot feel

[pophops]

Every thing is there for a reason, even wasps http://www.jcehrlich.com/blog/what-is-the-purpose-of-wasps/

 

Thanks a lot !!! I followed that link and ended up reading all about bed bugs. Now I'm itching all over

[Old Son]

Its a shame that humans feel the need to kill for no apparent reason!

[Jerra]

Its a shame that humans feel the need to kill for no apparent reason!

You aren't showing a Greenie Button or I would give you a greenie!

 

EDIT: For some strange reason when I refreshed the page there it was so duly awarded.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Jerra

[Mike Todd]

Very green using a recycled newspaper as a swotter. Appreciate the choice of newspaper I look forward to the cartoon each day.

Each day? When did you last get it not on a Sunday?

[matty40s]

It lasts for a week there's so many supplements, that's why I take one when boat moving.

[Ex-Member]

The week we bought our boat, in November, we cruised for a week or so & had the stove and/or the central heating on which must have woken up the 8 or 9 wasps which appeared over the next day or so. Even though I am one of those people who go ito shock if stung we did not kill them, we either 'guided' them to an open window or put a glass over and slid card underneath so we could put them outside. I am not sure if they survived, having woken up early, but at least we gave them a chance. I am naturally very nervous of bees/wasps/horseflies but they all do some good, especially bees which we all know are crutial to pollination.