Sitting outside in the sunshine may not be as relaxing as I thought........

[Chrissy]

I must admit I like to take advantage of the sunshine and sit in the garden reading my Kindle, and have been enjoying the long period of sunny weather we've been enjoying here in Britain. :)

Today my OH went shopping for an hour while I was outside reading. I decided to refill the bird bath with some nice fresh water, then failed to spot there was a wasp on the back of my bikini bottoms before I sat back down on my sun lounger. :(

OMG it was really painful. I have 4 swollen stings. I felt the first one and immediately got up, couldn't see anything so sat back down. Bad idea! :cry:

I cleaned it with surgical spirit and took an anti-histamine, so it's much better now. What a good job I have plenty of padding there! :blink:

[Rapidray]

Oh boy! Not how anyone would want there day to go for sure! They sure can get mean.

[Chrissy]

Oh boy! Not how anyone would want there day to go for sure! They sure can get mean.
Well they don't like being sat on, that's for sure!

[suzy01]

Oh no, poor you. I hate wasps

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

[Medieval]

I feel your pain, Chrissy.

I recall when i were younger on a hot afternoon, possibly a weekend, relaxing on my bed somewhat sleepy (those hot early afternoons around 2pm are not good for high activity). Out of nowhere there was what I thought was just a casual itch on my neck, so not thinking I reached my hand up to scratch it.
Imagine my surprise when the itch stung me, and in my sleepy state I instantly metamorphosed into madman mode.

Things like that really don't make me view wasps with rose tinted glasses. And while I will feel guilty if I have to kill an annoying fly or chase a spider or a bee out of the house, I will quite happily stamp the living daylights out of any wasps that crosses my path.

[Rapidray]

My job before retiring was HVAC on commercial buildings. Wasps/hornets love to build their nests in the units. Hornet spray is our friend! I have been chased on the roof tops. Needless to say, I have little love for them.

[manoeuver]

the worst.

last time I got stung I was walking to my car after work.

little bastard got in my shirt and stung me on the armpit.

I hope somebody was watching, cause out of nowhere I started screaming and tore my shirt off. sheesh. I'd have paid to see it.

[Chrissy]

I admit that I've been really scared of the possibility of being stung as there are loads of wasps around this year. My OH saw them going into the shed, and assumed they were building a nest, so he took everything out of the shed to see where it was, and couldn't find it. I was saying OMG be careful you don't get stung and stuff like that.

He eventually found this small nest, that they had just started, inside the flap of an old patio table umbrella. One of the first things he had taken out of the shed!

He was stung twice on his fingers, and seemed quite blasé about it while I was mortified, panicking, and saying are you OK? He said the itching lasted about 4 days then disappeared.

As long as the sting site doesn't start really swelling up and getting redder and you start to feel like you can't breathe, it's not too bad. :)

I've survived to see another day. ;)

[SIR]

Wasps?! what are you crying about - I take it you mean the common garden variety as opposed to something exotic like a Spider Wasp (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_wasp); never been stung by one but i'm sure it ain't anywhere near as bad as a real physical injury or sickness, unless you're allergic.

Was stung by a bee, so naturally i am slightly wary of them, but I most hate flies, midges, and the like - bees and wasps won't go out of their way to sting you unless provoked, and they are quick and clever learners so showing aggression is counter productive in the long term, and... they're good for the garden.

[mhosea]

bees and wasps won't go out of their way to sting you unless provoked

Unfortunately, what constitutes "provocation" is entirely up to their tiny insect brains to decide. Sometimes wasps around here will manufacture an excuse, like, say, landing on your back and then deciding they didn't like how your shirt wrinkled when you moved. Call that "provocation" if you want. I don't.

[Deb]

I'm sorry to hear it, Chrissy. Very painful. A queen wasp started building her family home in our shed this spring. It got to baseball size before we saw it. Hubby did the necessary with wasp spray. We don't like killing things but it was them or us.

[VertOlive]

Here, we have "Cow Killer Ants", gorgeous, red velvety "ants" with snazzy markings. They are actually wingless wasps with a quarter inch stinger whose sting is estimated to be a Level 10 (out of 10) on the Venomous Bite Scale.

I look before I sit in Texas. Yuk.

Off topic: What is an "OH"?

[Rapidray]

OH would be her “Other Half”...her husband

[Chrissy]

I'm sorry to hear it, Chrissy. Very painful. A queen wasp started building her family home in our shed this spring. It got to baseball size before we saw it. Hubby did the necessary with wasp spray. We don't like killing things but it was them or us.

A couple of years ago we noticed several wasps in the house, and spotted they were coming out of the loft when we opened the loft hatch door. Sure enough there was a massive wasps nest in there. We had to get someone in to deal with it. He got fully kitted up before going in.

After some time we went in and removed the old nest from the wall and brought it down to throw away. It's a really intricate thing when you examine it. They chew up wood to make it. Where they chewed this wood from is anyone's guess, but I hate the darn things! :mad:

[Chrissy]

Here, we have "Cow Killer Ants", gorgeous, red velvety "ants" with snazzy markings. They are actually wingless wasps with a quarter inch stinger whose sting is estimated to be a Level 10 (out of 10) on the Venomous Bite Scale.

I look before I sit in Texas. Yuk.

Off topic: What is an "OH"?
Wow! They sound like insects to be avoided.
I remember seeing Steve Backshall (a UK "extreme explorer" naturalist who makes nature TV shows) showing us Bullet Ants. They apparently give the worst ever sting of any stinging insect. Steve went through a "Bullet Ant ritual" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VarqiOM4-Fg) and was in tears due to the intense pain. Warning: It's not an easy clip to watch.

Yes OH is my Other Half - husband. :)

[stub]

nature sucks

[azkid]

Ow. That is awful. I got stung by a bee as a kid. No wasps though.

[Chrissy]

Ow. That is awful. I got stung by a bee as a kid. No wasps though.

I always thought bees were worse. They leave the stinger in and it keeps on stinging.... It gives them a good reason to not sting though. Once they do they die.

[FredRydr]

Are you feeling better? I hope you aren't allergic.

[Chrissy]

Are you feeling better? I hope you aren't allergic.
I'm feeling much better thank you Fred. :) Just itchy and very glad to have some "After Bite" left from when we were in Florida. :)

[Paddler]

We value our wasp and bee friends. We purposely leave a wild border (AKA "weeds") around our vegetable garden to attract parasitic and predatory wasps. With these guys around, we don't have to spray for things like bean and potato beetles, cutworms, etc. With the lower population of honeybees, I have placed bumblebee nests around the periphery of the property. We get good pollination now. Don't want to hand pollinate everything. All those critters have stingers; I just don't piss 'em off.

[SIR]

Here, we have "Cow Killer Ants", gorgeous, red velvety "ants" with snazzy markings.

Interesting... their cousins the panda ant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euspinolia_militaris) are quite cute!

[Fermata]

We value our wasp and bee friends. We purposely leave a wild border (AKA "weeds") around our vegetable garden to attract parasitic and predatory wasps. With these guys around, we don't have to spray for things like bean and potato beetles, cutworms, etc. With the lower population of honeybees, I have placed bumblebee nests around the periphery of the property. We get good pollination now. Don't want to hand pollinate everything. All those critters have stingers; I just don't piss 'em off.

Bit of a dicotemy here, just paid someone to remove a wasp nest, and yet when they come to drink from the bird bath (and always fall in) I lift them out with a spoon and set them down on the grass.

I dont want them around but having almost drowned twice myself I dont want to see any creature die that way.

[Medieval]

In the animal kingdom, if it has a colour combination that comprises 2 or 3 of red, black, or yellow, avoid it

[Scrawler]

A couple years ago I kicked a log on a path I was building across the marsh and out flew a cloud of ground wasps. I had to run a couple hundred meters, with them chasing and stinging me, to get to the house and hose myself down.

[Chrissy]

A couple years ago I kicked a log on a path I was building across the marsh and out flew a cloud of ground wasps. I had to run a couple hundred meters, with them chasing and stinging me, to get to the house and hose myself down.

Ouch! That sounds painful. :(

[Lady Onogaro]

I got three or four stings from paper wasps that had taken up residence in a camellia bush in my car port. Many ouches.

[Chrissy]

I got three or four stings from paper wasps that had taken up residence in a camellia bush in my car port. Many ouches.
Many ouches indeed. I feel your pain. :( At least you can get After Bite. We've run out now, but I'll stock up next time I visit Florida.
Hopefully, after 4 or 5 days all should be back to normal. :)

[Larry Barrieau]

Be(e) aware. Several time I have sat on lawn furniture to discover, in time, that wasps were building nests on the underside of the chairs.

[Chrissy]

Be(e) aware. Several time I have sat on lawn furniture to discover, in time, that wasps were building nests on the underside of the chairs.
I tend to check. They try to build nests under our table too. :(

[RocketRyan]

Wasps are why I despise eating outside. Doesn't seem to be a problem in Spain currently though.

[Chrissy]

Wasps are why I despise eating outside. Doesn't seem to be a problem in Spain currently though.
There were so many of them this year it made eating outside much more of a nuisance. Spain sounds like a great place to be at the moment though. :)

[RocketRyan]

Wasps are why I despise eating outside. Doesn't seem to be a problem in Spain currently though.
There were so many of them this year it made eating outside much more of a nuisance. Spain sounds like a great place to be at the moment though. :)

Anywhere but work would have been great, Spain is currently gorgeous.