Thank you Arb talk.

[VEG]

I keep bees so I know how you feel.

[bolthole]

They chuck out an alarm pheromone which signals to the rest of the nest to attack. Throwing down your outer garment when you do a runner mean you most likely leave behind the bit of you which has been 'target marked' the most.

 

Hornets, despite their scary rep are a lot less agressive, unless you disturb the nest, in which case you're in the same situation! There are a lot of stories about how dangerous their sting is; the venom isn't worse as such - there's just a bit more of it!

 

It's always best to think twice before destroying a hornet's nest - they feed on other insects and so are effectively a friend to the gardner.

 

You won't have any sympathy for them if you keep bees, mind...

[geoff]

Glad you got away relatively unhurt,quick thinking!

[treesnatcher]

we use wasp eze spray or chip vinegar out the glove box. been worst year for nests i can remember. we also used about 30 cans of wasp next destroyer foam this year.

[Nat]

I HATE wasps.

I was clearing a path down the side of some farm buildings with a big heavy old strimmer a couple of years back, Felt a pain in my hand, Wasp stuck into my palm, looked up, more swarming from a hillock I'd just sliced with the strimmer.

I turned and ran about 25 metres then basically lept over a metal 5 barred gate, strimmer still harnessed to me - How, I don't know!

Avoided any more stings!

 

Got stung on the inside of my lip once, it had been doing backstroke inside a half drunk can of Fanta previously.....

[David Goss]

I got stung in the back of the neck on friday and its still annoying me now on sunday night! glad it was only 1 sting and not 20!!! it was just a solitary wasp buzzing around my ear and when i waved it away it went for me. They seem to be real aggressive at the moment.

[Daniël Bos]

They seem to be real aggressive at the moment.

 

Most of the wasps I encounter at the moment (a fair few as juicing apples for days on end) are queens. They're out of the comforts of their nest, no more pampering entourage and looking for a place to snuggle up to overwinter. As they are the only thing of a colony that lives through winter they're (understandably) a bit more cranky, the future of an entire nest rests on her srtipey shoulders. They also seem more annoyed usually when it's around the temperature they'd wished they'd stayed inside.