Wasp stings on ear, Dewalt safety glasses

[Mick Dempsey]

3 hours ago, Paul in the woods said:

As a bee keeper I can only comment on bees. I get stung quite often and head stings do seem far more painful that say hands, arms or legs. Bees actually seem more attracted to dark colours than light, so will home in on the black of a logo opposed to yellow.

 

You can get desensitised to bee stings so it might be worth looking into something for wasps if you are likely to get stung again.

 

One thing I have noticed this year is more wasps about than previous years. 

I’m pretty sure populations of wasps are cyclical in their abundance, this year seems to be a big year for them.

The desensitizing thing is (according to the specialist I spoke to about the bee allergy) is time consuming and at that time it involved a drug from America that they weren’t releasing.

 

Get tested, get an epi-pen and display plenty of caution around the subject.

 

[Peasgood]

8 hours ago, Paul in the woods said:

One thing I have noticed this year is more wasps about than previous years. 

I was thinking to myself earlier how there are hardly any wasps about this year.I am an apple grower but can't remember seeing a single one at my place so far. 

[nepia]

Unusual I'm sure but it's a bit early for wasps in numbers isn't it?  August and September are the months

[Stere]

Yeah I always think not many about then a few weeks later can't sit outside to eat dinner without being pestered by the buggers...

[Paul in the woods]

7 hours ago, nepia said:

Unusual I'm sure but it's a bit early for wasps in numbers isn't it?  August and September are the months

If you strim a nest or near one there's enough about at this time of year to go for you.

 

But yes, you tend to see the bored workers searching out sweet stuff much later in the season. This is what I was alluding to, when I inspect my bees you sometimes have a wasp or two go in the hives after the honey. I don't recall many at all last year but already I've seen far more this year than last.  

 

It could be the dry weather down here, until the rain in the last week several things seem to have given up as there hasn't been to food for them. Blackbirds for example seem to have struggled finding worms.

 

Sounds like it varies from place to place.

[Peasgood]

Been to my sons place today which is only about 8 miles away.

He has 3 wasps nests, one he didn't know about until I poited it out.

One nest has tiny little wasps, loads smaller than normal, one nest is just about normal sized wasps and one is giant wasps. I don't know if they are hornets because you ever get them around here but they are all a bit bigger than the Queen wasps you see in autumn/winter hibernating.

[Paul in the woods]

Native hornets are great. We get them around here, queens often come into the house in spring and often get them nesting in our woodland. Apart from size the noise is very distinctive. I've never been stung by them and I gather they are far less likely to sting than wasps.I

 

Not found a single wasp nest about our place so far this year and I normally find a few. 

[miker]

Apart from the nest i disturbed and got stung, i found 3 nests all within 60 yards of each other, one really small wasps and 2  bigger ones, one nest was 8 - 10 inches across

[Mick Dempsey]

Strimming and unknowing hitting a wasps nest.

 

’there’s a wasp’

’there’s another one’

’there’s 500!’

 

[ABtrees]

2 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Strimming and unknowing hitting a wasps nest.

 

’there’s a wasp’

’there’s another one’

’there’s 500!’

 

 

 

I had exactly that with a hornets nest down the other end of the fallen tree i was logging my way along - oh look a hornet !  Within 15 seconds maybe 60 - 70. Just started talking calmly to them and slowly backed off. They followed me at a distance of about 2 metres all the way to the tractor 20 metres away. Made sure i was no longer a threat and then got on with their day.  Unlike wasps, made no attempt to sting me - but i'd have been in trouble if they had - out in the wood working on my own !

Just as an aside, i kept the saw running the noise/vibration seems to calm them (maybe ?).