My wasps are sick...

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Ooooh, I need to go back to the I Confess thread and read your post since I never read it! *rushes off to read it*

Oh, btw, I wanted to say "thanks" to everyone who commented.

Sorry to proffer up a sad ending, but the nest is dead. Two of the near-adult babies emerged (were pulled out by the mother wasp?) dead, stuck to the outside of the nest; the mother wasp is apparently gone... So it goes.

To those with "pet" spiders, I'm there too. I live in a log cabin on the edge of a forest, and share the cabin with many cellar spiders, and an occasional wood spider that wanders inside. I like having them around, and leave them be. Before I knew what they were called, I used to call the cellar spiders "luck spiders", and dubbed them lucky things to have around. I've since studied up on them, and despite their rather spooky appearance, they are harmless. [I've "proved" this to people who've argued with me about it more than once by gently picking up a rather large cellar spider, cradling in my hands for a few moments (giving it a chance to bite me), then let it creep around on my hands and arms for a bit before gently depositing the spider back near it's web. I love the look on people's faces when I do this. And the spiders don't seem to mind; they just go back to their web.] Anything in the widow family gets gently collected and deposited outside somewhere away from the cabin.

For those who've had to knock down a wasp nest, I understand the need to do this sometimes. We do what we need to survive, and being harassed by stinging insects is generally unacceptable. I have a very simple deal with the various wasps and hornets and the like that live around me. Leave me alone, and I'll do the same (curious observation aside). BUT, sting me or especially anyone in my family, and you go bye bye. So far this has worked out well for me; I’ve found the wasps I’ve lived around to be generally not as aggressive or troublesome as people assume them to be. But I understand some wasps are much more aggressive [and harder stinging] than others; I've been stung and bitten by many things in the course of my adventures.

For those who've offered empathy over a nest of stining insects, thank you, I appreciate it.

Good fortune, all.

- Icarus the Spider-herder

Sorry Icarus. I wish you and your wasps well. Two months ago, my basilisks were sick and I saw how they died. I felt so powerless and guilty.

I am always wary of things that could potentially bite or sting me, but generally feel bad when I see one injured or dying. they always seem to look so sad and pathetic, especially when they used to be so scary (spiders in particular).
I am a sucker for a bee that has lost its sting. the knowledge that that little bee has willingly given its life to help the greater good, despite the pain and death that will surely follow.
kind of makes me feel like a really crappy life form for not being even half as brave.

That just reminded me of the wasp nest that was living in a short pipe in the ground that kept the hose from getting caught in the bushes. Early this summer i got stung on the hand cause the hose was kinked by the pipe and i had to bend down and unkink it. But last time I was over there the same thing happened with the hose only there were no wasps there at all. Usually you see the ones on the outside guarding the hive. It was like they all left or died.

I don't think humans are any better than animals.
Years ago black people were just property in the south. They weren't people, they were just "the negro". Something less than human, not people. Its the same thing with animals today. No one cares if a dog has to sit alone in a house all day.

Honey bees interest me because their brains contain 1 million neurons and they have good group intelligence.

A very easy way to catch one without damage is to go where there are flowers that tend to be quite small and tubular that hang down downwards and popular with bees like Fuchia and wait till the bee goes inside one and get a small box with a sliding lid, move the box so the flower and bee are in the box then close the lid cutting the stem.

Yet a portia jumping spider only has 600,000 and it is brain is the size of a pin head. Yet it is capable of forethought.
http://www.nus.edu.sg/corporate/researc ... arch82.htm

Reminds me of an interesting memory from childhood:

I was at camp with my Girl Scout troop in fourth grade, and the campground was in a marshy area, not a forest. My troop and a few other groups of kids were taking a tour around the marsh with a tour guide, looking at... well, disgusting green algae-filled swampland. Anyway, there was a kid that everyone was making fun of, because he was wearing old, ripped clothes and broken shoes. They were laughing and saying he looked like a poor orphan, that he probably smelled, and that he was dirty. I wasn't making fun of him; actually I thought he was pretty cute despite his attire.
Anyway....
As the tour guide was showing us around, some kid pointed out a turtle floating at the surface of the water with a fishhook in its eye. While everyone was standing around saying "Oh no, whatever should we do?" and the tour guide was standing there looking dumb, the "dirty" kid rolled up his pant legs, took off his shoes, and jumped right into that disgusting algae-filled water. He waded to the turtle, picked it up, and handed it to the tour guide so she could take it to the animal rescue center. After that, everyone treated him like a hero and tried to act like they hadn't been making fun of him minutes ago.

I'll never forget that kid, the way he didn't even hesitate before jumping in to save that turtle.

Yes... That was fungus. I forget what it is called but I've read about it before.
Sorry for your loss. I know how it goes.

I can't understand why anyone would care about yellow jackets proliferating. I find them, I burn their nests before they have a chance to make me miserable with their aggressive pissy attitudes. Wasps and bees love me. Bumble bees and honey bees leave me alone, so I like them just fine.

All that said, there is something, some disease, affecting bees. They've figured out what it is and have begun treating the population. A friend of mine keeps bees and he lost his entire hive last year. He had to order more bees and have them shipped in to him, and I think he has a couple of hives now.

I only care because I know bees are vital to agriculture and the environment. If they would just leave me the hell alone, I'd call a truce.

Humans have much more aggressive, pissy attitudes than yellow jackets; lemme know about how you burn humans before they can make you miserable, and you'll gain a measure of respect with me. And, as a matter of fact, yellow jackets are wasps. As for why one might care about them, you say so yourself.


As are... yellow jackets. From their Wiki article, "All females are capable of stinging, though they are also important predators of pest insects. So while dangerous, they are also beneficial." They are predatory insects, pest control, like spiders. Thus, important.

I've already described my deal with them; if they sting me or mine, they go bye-bye; this goes for any creature which menaces my family. And, they haven't so far, despite me giving them numerous opportunities. And since they are beneficial to agriculture and the environment, I care about them; and beyond that, I care about them as living creatures; the only creatures I don't care about are parasites and humans (yes, I realize that is a redundant statement).

I presume this addresses your inability to understand? Lemme know if you have any questions.

Good fortune,

- Icarus Sees a Bigger Picture