[TN-Bird] Re: Wasps

As a once and future beekeeper I'm friendly toward all things "hymenopterous" 
except ground-nesting yellow jackets and fire ants (and my hairy woodpeckers 
took care of all my carpenter bees, tore holy heck out of the fascia boards to 
do it, looks like 50-caliber machine gun fire). I give wasps free rein to nest 
where they will as long as I can get in/out of my front door and in/out of my 
toolshed without hassles. Right now I have a very productive nest of what I 
guess are introduced Polistes dominulus, which this year have out-competed my 
old fashioned red wasps for the first time since I moved here in '99. (I'm 
going to send some off for identification and if they're not native, I'll start 
eradicating them next year to allow my native red wasps to reclaim the yard.)
Many wasps are insectivorous, and I count them as friendlies just as I do bats, 
swifts, etc. And although introduced from Europe, yellow hornets are especially 
big on my list since they just looooooove yellow jackets and flies (fascinating 
to watch them straddle a yellow jacket, snip off its head with those big 
mandibles, then can-opener the thorax and delicately eat all the goodies out, 
throw YJ away and go get another one). According to one hornet aficionado's 
website, they have such an avid taste for flies that they will divebomb 
nailheads, little black spots, even moles on your skin. The latter can be 
extremely disconcerting, of course, but they figure out their mistake quickly 
and move on, and have no interest in wasting their energy resources on stinging 
you.

Except for yellow jackets, who become extremely testy in the fall, bees and 
wasps foraging away from their nest are not aggressive and it's difficult to 
force them to sting you as long as you don't pinch or otherwise restrain them. 
Even nesting wasps and bees are not a problem as long as you (a) don't bump the 
nest and (b) don't stop as you pass by at very close range. My primary P. 
dominulus nest, housing at least 30 wasps, is a mere 16" from the doorknob-side 
of my front door, and we have all passed the season without the first incident. 
(And they don't seem at all interested in my hummingbird feeders.)

Some years I have a significant wasp-at-the-feeder problem, other years (such 
as this year) I have almost none. I've found that relocating my feeders for 2-4 
days then returning them to their customary positions usually cuts down on the 
number of wasps slurping up the sugar water and keeping the hummers at bay. My 
hummers are a lot smarter and less habit-bound than the wasps, plus I hang a 
long tag of fluorescent pink or orange construction flag from the feeders, so 
the birds almost immediately spot the relocation while the wasps doggedly 
return to the old spot for a couple of days before giving up. In my experience, 
they seldom find the new location, and it takes them days to weeks to return to 
the original spot.

Wasps are your friends, wasps are your friends, wasps are your friends, wasps 
are your friends...  ;)

Happy birds AND wasps,

Liz Singley
Kingston TN



------- Original Message -------
From : Robbie Hassler[mailto:drhass@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent : 8/22/2006 7:20:38 PM
To : TN-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc : 
Subject : RE: [TN-Bird] Wasps

TN birders----


I have also been hassled by wasps at my hummer feeders. One feeder has an 
insect guard with a hole in it. Wasps persist in getting all the way in head 
first -- so I get my tweezers on it-- crush it's thorax and pull him back out. 
Not what you would call blanket coverage riddance but I'm getting 
there------one at a time.

Robbie Hassler
Pickett County



=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
endorse the views or opinions expressed
by the members of this discussion group.

Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------------
Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
Cleveland, OH
-------------------------------
Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________

Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ARCHIVES
TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ 

EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp 
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif 
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com 

_____________________________________________________________




=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
                    tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
                To unsubscribe, send email to:
                 tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
            with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                  EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

_____________________________________________________________

Other related posts: