• DancingBear@midwest.social
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    4 hours ago

    There are either dozens or hundreds or thousands of species of insects that have evolved to look similar to wasps and hornets and bees that can’t actually sting. Protect your native bees however you can.

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    11 hours ago

    I used to live in a house with 2 pear trees. I quickly learned to pick up any fallen fruit, because the pear juice would ferment under the skin in the warm summer sun, the yellow jackets would pierce the skin and drink the pear liqueur, and then drunkenly chase me around the yard. Turns out, yellow jackets are belligerent drunks, which is, frankly, not surprising.

  • tomiant@piefed.social
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    15 hours ago

    Hornets are cool though! They eat very specific pests that nothing else will kill- flies, horse flies, flesh flies, and they catchem mid air, also bark beetles and some other nasty fuckers. They’re also pollinators, and did you know they’re actually way chiller than honey bees? Honey bees be straight up gangbangers in comparison, they unruly. In most of Europe they’re a protected species and you can be fined like A LOT if you get caught killing one. You’ll obviously never be caught but still.

    Hornets only give a fuck if you’re within 5 meters of their nest and then they will let you KNOW they ain’t playin’.

    Wasps can suck a dick tho.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      5 hours ago

      I’ve only ever been stung by wasps. I was never doing anything to them, they came near me, I didn’t even move, stung me and then flew away.

      I am not sure what part of the ecosystem wasps are filling but I’m prepared to wipe them out and see if it makes any difference.

      The worst of bumblebee has ever done is flown into me, but they do have a surprising amount of mess behind them.

      • Wolf314159@startrek.website
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        2 hours ago

        A bee headbutting you is not necessarily an agressive act, could be just investigatory on the part of the bee. I’ve walked into the heart of a flowering shrub covered in hungry bees, during which they either ignored me or headbutted me. As long as “defending the hive” isn’t part of the bee interaction, they are usually very chill but remain very curious. I’m still careful when the headbutts happen because accidents happen and a confused bee tangled in hair may still sting. But I have also gently untangled a bee or two without anyone getting hurt.

        Even when defending the hive, bees seem to prefer as little direct agression as possible. I’ve stepped into a clearing and suddenly found myself way too close to a wild bee hive and got stung exactly once by a bee that got tangled in my hair as I fled the approaching swarm.

        I’ve also gotten a solitary wasp tangled in my hair, near no hive or any flowers, and gotten stung 3 times on one knuckle as thanks for setting them free. The bees have taught me to treat them with compassion and respect. The wasps have taught me to react with murder and extreme violence before they are even aware of me.

        Both are pollinators though. So despite the animosity, I don’t go out of my way to wage war against wasps the way I do mosquitoes.

      • Napster153@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        They’re the real life Xenomorph, so make of that what you will.

        Also, somebody pointed out that Wasp stingers don’t fall off like bees do when stinging humans, so they’re way more incentivised to stab you than normal.

  • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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    18 hours ago

    I am honor bound to come wasps’ defense. They are very cool critters! The vast majority cannot and do not harm humans, and are largely an ecological boon. They prey on cultured crops pests. Some even specifically prey on roaches.

    I’ve lived in paper wasp territory my whole ass life and only been stung twice, and it wasn’t even all that bad. Like the pain was gone in a minute tops. And I consistently stick my hand and fingers into unexplored, and frequently inappropriate, areas.

    Wasps are bros as much as spiders are. I would argue more so because they actively hunt pests, and are responsible for far less human deaths than spiders.

    • iocase@lemmy.zip
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      16 hours ago

      You just reminded me of this exterminator guy I watch on YouTube who actually collects wasp nests and rehomes them on his property. He says they kill mosquitos and basically nay pest you’d be concerned about.

      The aggressive species get fed to his chickens lol.

      Edit: I think it’s hornet king Link

    • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      Wasps are bros as much as spiders are.

      Just not bros to spiders. What parasitoid wasps do to spiders/other victims is nearly as nightmarish as what spiders do to their prey. Definitely a match made in hell.

    • frosch@sh.itjust.works
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      17 hours ago

      And I consistently stick my hand and fingers into unexplored, and frequently inappropriate, areas.

      … Like… In general, or regarding the paper wasps?

    • deft@lemmy.wtf
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      18 hours ago

      Agreed. Cicada killers are like the coolest bug in my area. As a kid I used to imagine that would be my Pokemon

      • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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        16 hours ago

        I just wanna wax nostalgic on probably my most beloved pet that could’ve been a Pokemon.

        Y’all may know Furryosa, but she’s only been with me for a little under a year. But I had this dog I named “puppy”, which my dad tried to fight but I won, from about age 6 until 14. He was a half German Shepherd, half Rottweiler that got dropped off on our doorstep (very small and isolated community, so it was obvious). Homie had the colorations of a Rottweiler with the build of a tall dachshund. We didn’t crop anything cause my mom is a good person, so his tail took on its own moniker as the agent of chaos it was. He became male dog aggressive later in life, which wouldn’t have been a problem as we had a fenced yard. But other dogs jumped into our fence on occasion and did not meet a ceremonious end.

        But then a year or two before he suddenly passed he became best chums with an all white male dog literally half his size that we caught on camera jumping in. I’m not trying to defend Piers Anthony’s literal bullshit, but maybe the horse isn’t the only thing that’s pale.

        Edit to add: if y’all wanna know about the badass cat that could only be killed by an alligator, let me know. That fucker dug holes in concrete!

  • Pandantic [they/them]@midwest.social
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    17 hours ago

    Yellow jackets are mean, but don’t confuse them with paper wasps which are chill little dudes. They’d rather head bump you to get you away than sting you.

    • rnercle@sh.itjust.works
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      14 hours ago

      paper wasps are not “chill little dudes”

      one of the most painful experiences of my life. a dozen stings on my left hand and for a moment i didn’t even know what was happening to me. As painful as a good dose of 220 volts through your arm

      i still kept them around though. As a gardener, they’re your friends. i stopped using those tools around which they built their hive

      When you pass by their hive, they follow your movements. They turn to keep you in sight … one feels them staring 😬

    • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe
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      16 hours ago

      Yea, yellow jackets are bumbling annoyances around anything sweet.

      Paper wasps are aggressive bastards who will sting just cause you were in their line of sight.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        15 hours ago

        yellow jackets are bumbling annoyances flying terrorists who are personally offended that you have around anything sweet and would kill you for it if they could.

        There, fixed it for you.

  • foodandart@lemmy.zip
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    21 hours ago

    Hey!!! Now, waitaminit!

    Those “pieces of shit” do a bang up job of keeping the caterpilars and other pest creepy-crawlies off the fruiting trees.

    NGL, have a friend whose house has 2-inch eaves (not soffits) that are lined each summer with wasps nests.

    They do nothing but ferry all the caterpillars off the peach trees to their nests all summer long.

    Also, as there are always people outside on the porch, the wasps are totally chill with everyone and no one has ever been stung or swooped at.

    (Friend shares the bounty… we get lots of peaches for their diligent work… peach pies, peach cobbler, peach schnapps, peach jam, peaches with ice cream… you get the idea…)

    It’s about being a part of the territory, not an interloper.

    I like the wasps… now the white faced hornets… that’s another story. Utter cunts, those ones are.

    • too_high_for_this@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      We have ground wasps here, one of the types that we call yellow jackets. Take a step in the wrong spot and you will be swarmed. They’re tiny little tenacious stingy bastards that, I swear to god, keep stinging past death. My mom once stepped on a hive, got swarmed, and ran inside. Our dog was curious, she also got swarmed and went inside. I was on my computer, headphones on, and I hear howling, from both Mom and dog. I ran out thinking they were being murdered. My mom was trying to brush them off her clothes but they just clung on, so I just started smacking her. The dog ate at least one. Then they attacked me and I got stung all over my arms and head, including in my ear. I almost passed out from the pain. My poor dog had a swollen nose and a new fear. My mom was in so much pain we almost took her to the hospital. My ear hurt for days.

      I murdered those bastards with prejudice. And chemicals. And then fire. Nobody attacks my mother. Or my dogs.

    • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social
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      20 hours ago

      Also, as there are always people outside on the porch, the wasps are totally chill with everyone and no one has ever been stung or swooped at.

      In the States, our yellowjackets don’t swoop and sting much, but they have a super-annoying tendency to hover over one’s food. Possibly the behavior’s a bit different where you are, possibly via related but different species.

      • foodandart@lemmy.zip
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        7 hours ago

        Am in the Northeast, so we have smallish yellowjackets, the brown and tan wasps, (those ones are the chillest) hornets… fucking carpenter bees (they eat houses!) bumblebees and reguar honeybees. I miss the green bees - haven’t seen any for a few years up this way…

        But those carpenter bees…

      • tomiant@piefed.social
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        15 hours ago

        They never can seem to make up their minds. IM OVER HER IM OVER HERE NOW IM OVER HERE WHAT IS THAT LET’S LOOK AT IT FROM OVER HERE WOOPS NO LETS GO BACK HANG ON I’M OVER HERE NOW HOW ABOUT OVER HERE

        Like dude you can have a sip of my soda I’ll leave a splash right here just make up your mind take what you want and go. away.

      • ryannathans@aussie.zone
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        20 hours ago

        We have wasps that love meat here, they come and sit at the table at your picnics. They’re still friends though, even when you’re fighting ten for a piece of sushi. They don’t sting even when you accidentally hit them swatting them away

        • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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          18 hours ago

          Wasps are always invited to the cookout!

          They actually scare away the flies from what I’ve seen. Flies puke on your food, wasps chomp intentionally leaving less fluids.

      • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        It’s particularly bad in late summer and early fall, when their diet shifts to be more protein-rich — human food tends to be more appealing.

    • tomiant@piefed.social
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      15 hours ago

      Hornets be chill as fuck tho. They don’t care unless you’re close to their nest. They’re real little darlings. You’re way moreikely to get stung by a honeybee

  • silver@das-eck.haus
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    15 hours ago

    Nah these guys are chill. They kill all the pests in my garden and don’t bother with me at all

  • Broadfern@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    Yellowjackets are rage with wings. Fuck the little bastards.

    They give other wasps a bad rap.