WASPS or whatever they are, that don't die!

[journey11]

I was never afraid of wasps until I got stung by one in the chicken barn and developed a sudden allergy. I had never been allergic before and now I am allergic to my bees too (but I just take LOTS of liquid benadryl if I get stung.) But they do make you a nervous wreck. I can hardly stand to go outside during the month of July when the wasps are at their worst and defending their nests. Wasps will come after you with no warning if you get near their babies. Now honeybees get such a bad rap... They don't bother you unless you bother them. I can sit right beside my hive and watch them come and go and unless you do something dumb like pound on the side of their box two or three times they won't come at you.

What do you think you'll do, Marshall? They will probably stay in there all winter if you don't find a way to kill them.

 

[897tgigvib]

I'm not sure, but I will do something.

I hosed off my porch, got it good and clean. Stomped a couple of them. It takes 2 stomps with a twist to kill them!

 

[lesa]

I think the best thing is to put traps early in the spring. The first wasp out, is the queen. If you get her- you solve the whole problem. Good luck!

 

[hoodat]

This is going to sound crazy but when I was in Oklahoma there was an old codger who could "talk" to bees, wasps and hornets and convince them to leave and find a better place for a nest. Many of the old timers around there said they had seen him do it. He would come by for a few days and just sit talking to them and pretty soon they would disappear. One told me that his attic was so infested with paper wasps (the mean red kind) that he couldn't go up there. The bee talker came by and all but a few nests left. He claimed that wasps were warriors and you should never threaten them. That just makes them mad and they start stinging. You had to talk to them as a friend. He wouldn't take money for it. He said if he took money the talent would go away.

 

[897tgigvib]

I sure didn't think of that Hoodat. A Wasp Whisperer.

It must be a special totem, Spirit Wasp. Maybe I should find an Osage Medicine man or woman. I have not yet been stung, but they have pelted my neck, face, and hair by flying into me.

 

[hoodat]

A grandmother or grandfather of the tribe could at least give you good advice on dealing with them in harmony.