anyone else noticed paper wasps are missing?

[hoodat]

I just noticed something. The South overhang of my house is a favorite spot for paper wasps to build their nests. The nests look empty and I don't see the wasps anywhere. They should be starting their yearly activities but so far nothing. When something that should be there in the natural world is missing it concerns me. As John Muir said,"When you pull on one thread in nature, you move the whole world".

 

[boggybranch]

No shortage around my place.....that's for sure.

 

[lupinfarm]

No shortage here either, they're creating a ground wasp nest again -_- darn wasps...

 

[hoodat]

I always got on well with wasps It's been years since one stung me. There are plenty of digger wasps (the skinny black ones they call spider killers) excavating holes in the garden but no paper wasps. Maybe it's just too early for them but the weather has been mild. The only diggers that bother me are the yellow jackets and they're just nasty tempered by nature.

 

[lupinfarm]

Ergh, our "digger wasps" are not like that, they look like paper wasps.. and they're evil lol. There were some wasps starting to make a nest in the corner of our porch, so I had to spray them. can't have a wasp nest by the front door!

 

[elf]

Plenty here. What bother me are the surprise hornets nesting in the ground.

 

[journey11]

I've seen a few under my back deck and on the front porch, but not so many as last year, and none in my chicken barn oddly enough. My husband has kept after them, removing the nests, so perhaps that has diminished their numbers...

 

[Andy J]

They must have all come to my place.Anything outside that doesn't move for a couple days has a wasp nest in it.

Andy J

 

[digitS']

I think that they are just beginning to establish themselves for their season, here. I've seen plenty, that I assume they are females, especially going in and out of the equipment shed beside one of my gardens.

One garden bed there has a path along an old board fence. That fence gets a lot of attention as the wasps chew off the wood to build their nests each year. Having been stung there, I find it best just to keep moving when I'm over on that side of the bed. Of course, if I don't have to stop to do something -- why would I be over there in the first place?? Dangerous spot.

The tenant there does absolutely nothing about the wasp nests other than show up at the emergency room when he has been stung. He can't even use that shed during the summer because of the nests inside. But, why worry about an equipment shed when he can just throw his tools around in the yard?

I've never seen such a casual disregard for the value of things useful. A shovel that has been used once will lay out in the weather for years!! If it was once useful, after 4 or 5 years - it isn't.

This guy has been around for nearly 10 years now and I know how much he appreciates folks noticing when he's been busy. "Oh, I see you've been out doing some excavating!" He just puffs up like a banty rooster.

There are other reasons for his carelessness. Nearly all have to do with alcohol. He fixes most any problem with a drink: bee sting . . . debt, conflict with local government, trips to the ER . . . snake bite.

Steve

 

[elf]

Another fellow landlord! Yes, the one I evicted left no tools but always little gin bottles all over yard. The one I' m waiting to evict, I see by his garbage & recyclables which I haul, can afford Jack Daniels and gin not by the bottle, but the CASE, since he doesn't pay rent... Sorry, hijacking thread...back to wasps...which is what some tenants are like...if you ever get a sting from wasp, hornet, bee, find the nearest yellow dock leaf, crush or chew and rub on juice, or use a slice of juicy onion, or wet tobacco. Actually, most native plants will give some relief. Use your instincts and grab whatever seems right when in a tight.