This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

"Dave Hill" wrote in message
...
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

We had a peacock butterfly around the weekend I am reliably informed


--
Rowdens Reservoir Allotments Association
www.rraa.moonfruit.com

Robert (Plymouth) wrote:
"Dave Hill" wrote in message
...
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

We had a peacock butterfly around the weekend I am reliably informed

Two weeks ago honey bees and house flies on a Mahonia. Last week hoverfles.
Painted lady butterflies at Highdown gardens.

Queen wasps? Where did I put that pyrethrin spray?

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
Robert (Plymouth) wrote:
"Dave Hill" wrote in message
...
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

We had a peacock butterfly around the weekend I am reliably informed

Two weeks ago honey bees and house flies on a Mahonia. Last week
hoverfles. Painted lady butterflies at Highdown gardens.

Queen wasps? Where did I put that pyrethrin spray?

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)
shouldn't kill them they do a lot of good

On Feb 24, 10:31 pm, Dave Hill wrote:
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

I saw several queen bumble bees (2 or 3) a couple of weeks ago; just
at the end of the dreadful wet weather. They get badly hit by cold if
they come out too early.

Des

On 25/2/08 13:49, in article
, "Des
Higgins" wrote:

On Feb 24, 10:31 pm, Dave Hill wrote:
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

I saw several queen bumble bees (2 or 3) a couple of weeks ago; just
at the end of the dreadful wet weather. They get badly hit by cold if
they come out too early.

Des

We've had bumble bees round here for several weeks now but not today. There
was a lot of white on the lawn this morning and it's a grey, cold day.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Robert (Plymouth) wrote:
"Jeff Layman" wrote in message

Queen wasps? Where did I put that pyrethrin spray?

shouldn't kill them they do a lot of good

If they leave me alone, I leave them alone. But they don't (3 nests under
the tiles in 8 years. You try keeping windows closed in summer to keep
wasps out of the house)

At best wasps are neutral to the environment. They eat anything they can
kill, to feed their young as well as themselves. That includes good
invertebrates as well as bad. If they disappeared from the earth tomorrow
the ecosystem wouldn't notice - other predators would take up the slack.

But if bees disappeared, that's another thing altogether...

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
Robert (Plymouth) wrote:
"Jeff Layman" wrote in message

Queen wasps? Where did I put that pyrethrin spray?

shouldn't kill them they do a lot of good

If they leave me alone, I leave them alone. But they don't (3 nests under
the tiles in 8 years. You try keeping windows closed in summer to keep
wasps out of the house)

At best wasps are neutral to the environment. They eat anything they can
kill, to feed their young as well as themselves.

Like Man.

That includes good invertebrates as well as bad.

Good? Bad?

If they disappeared from the earth tomorrow the ecosystem wouldn't
notice - other predators would take up the slack.

Like Man.

But if bees disappeared, that's another thing altogether...

?

Mary

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
Robert (Plymouth) wrote:
"Jeff Layman" wrote in message

Queen wasps? Where did I put that pyrethrin spray?

shouldn't kill them they do a lot of good

If they leave me alone, I leave them alone. But they don't (3 nests under
the tiles in 8 years. You try keeping windows closed in summer to keep
wasps out of the house)

At best wasps are neutral to the environment. They eat anything they can
kill, to feed their young as well as themselves. That includes good
invertebrates as well as bad. If they disappeared from the earth tomorrow
the ecosystem wouldn't notice - other predators would take up the slack.

That is absolute nonsense

Sacha says...
On 25/2/08 13:49, in article
, "Des
Higgins" wrote:

On Feb 24, 10:31 pm, Dave Hill wrote:
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

I saw several queen bumble bees (2 or 3) a couple of weeks ago; just
at the end of the dreadful wet weather. They get badly hit by cold if
they come out too early.

Des

We've had bumble bees round here for several weeks now but not today. There
was a lot of white on the lawn this morning and it's a grey, cold day.

I rescued a huge bumble bee from upstairs yesterday. It was
trying desperately to get out of a window and making a heck
of a racket. Not the easiest things to rescue. Putting a
pot over it was the easy bit, but trying to slide a lid
between the window and the bee without squishing or
severing any legs was tricky. Finally got it outside and
removed the lid and it spent a couple of minutes trying to
get out via the bottom of the box rather than the open top.
Not the smartest of creatures. Good deed for the day. I
love bumble bees, something strangely cute about them
(unlike wasps - shudder).
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

On 26/2/08 09:20, in article ,
"David in Normandy" wrote:

Sacha says...
On 25/2/08 13:49, in article
, "Des
Higgins" wrote:

On Feb 24, 10:31 pm, Dave Hill wrote:
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

I saw several queen bumble bees (2 or 3) a couple of weeks ago; just
at the end of the dreadful wet weather. They get badly hit by cold if
they come out too early.

Des

We've had bumble bees round here for several weeks now but not today. There
was a lot of white on the lawn this morning and it's a grey, cold day.

I rescued a huge bumble bee from upstairs yesterday. It was
trying desperately to get out of a window and making a heck
of a racket. Not the easiest things to rescue. Putting a
pot over it was the easy bit, but trying to slide a lid
between the window and the bee without squishing or
severing any legs was tricky. Finally got it outside and
removed the lid and it spent a couple of minutes trying to
get out via the bottom of the box rather than the open top.
Not the smartest of creatures. Good deed for the day. I
love bumble bees, something strangely cute about them
(unlike wasps - shudder).

Wasps are bovver boys while bees give every appearance of being rather
benevolent and not looking for trouble. I am convinced that wasps *like*
annoying people, spoiling their al fresco suppers etc. ;-)
One of the best ways to catch bees is a match box. Empty it, slide it open
and turning it upside down, put it over the bee. Slowly slide it shut, take
it outside, open it. Bingo. I hope!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Sacha says...
On 26/2/08 09:20, in article ,
"David in Normandy" wrote:

Sacha says...
On 25/2/08 13:49, in article
, "Des
Higgins" wrote:

On Feb 24, 10:31 pm, Dave Hill wrote:
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

I saw several queen bumble bees (2 or 3) a couple of weeks ago; just
at the end of the dreadful wet weather. They get badly hit by cold if
they come out too early.

Des

We've had bumble bees round here for several weeks now but not today. There
was a lot of white on the lawn this morning and it's a grey, cold day.

I rescued a huge bumble bee from upstairs yesterday. It was
trying desperately to get out of a window and making a heck
of a racket. Not the easiest things to rescue. Putting a
pot over it was the easy bit, but trying to slide a lid
between the window and the bee without squishing or
severing any legs was tricky. Finally got it outside and
removed the lid and it spent a couple of minutes trying to
get out via the bottom of the box rather than the open top.
Not the smartest of creatures. Good deed for the day. I
love bumble bees, something strangely cute about them
(unlike wasps - shudder).

Wasps are bovver boys while bees give every appearance of being rather
benevolent and not looking for trouble. I am convinced that wasps *like*
annoying people, spoiling their al fresco suppers etc. ;-)
One of the best ways to catch bees is a match box. Empty it, slide it open
and turning it upside down, put it over the bee. Slowly slide it shut, take
it outside, open it. Bingo. I hope!


Bees / bumble bees all seem to be far more interested in
flowers than me, but wasps on the other hand are "hoodie"
bees - just hanging around looking for trouble.

I don't know if there are different varieties of bumble
bees but the one I rescued would have pretty well filled a
standard sized match box, it was huge. The loud hum it was
making was also impressive - like some noisy electrical
equipment.

I have a pathological fear of wasps. As a child playing in
some bushes the ground beneath my feet gave way demolishing
the home of a substantial number of wasps - I didn't know
the nest wast there but the wasps sure made a thing of it -
I was stung head to toe - probably around 50 or more
stings. They were all over me and chased me a good 100
yards while I was trying to beat them off my clothes with a
stick. Since then wasps hold a certain dread for me.
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

On 26 Feb, 09:47, Sacha wrote:

One of the best ways to catch bees is a match box. *Empty it, slide it open
and turning it upside down, put it over the bee. *Slowly slide it shut, take
it outside, open it. *Bingo. *I hope!

Or, leave said matchbox lying around in the vicinity of smokers who
might be after a light

On 26/2/08 10:17, in article ,
"David in Normandy" wrote:

Sacha says...
On 26/2/08 09:20, in article ,
"David in Normandy" wrote:

Sacha says...
On 25/2/08 13:49, in article
, "Des
Higgins" wrote:

On Feb 24, 10:31 pm, Dave Hill wrote:
This evening as I was cooking supper I heard a buzzing and looked
towards the light to see a Queen Wasp, after a few mins of trying to
get her somewhere I could swat her things came to the boil snd I had
to leave her , when I looked again she had gone somewhere where I
couldn't find her, but I expect she'll be back.
I've never had a queen wasp around this early in the year.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

I saw several queen bumble bees (2 or 3) a couple of weeks ago; just
at the end of the dreadful wet weather. They get badly hit by cold if
they come out too early.

Des

We've had bumble bees round here for several weeks now but not today.
There
was a lot of white on the lawn this morning and it's a grey, cold day.

I rescued a huge bumble bee from upstairs yesterday. It was
trying desperately to get out of a window and making a heck
of a racket. Not the easiest things to rescue. Putting a
pot over it was the easy bit, but trying to slide a lid
between the window and the bee without squishing or
severing any legs was tricky. Finally got it outside and
removed the lid and it spent a couple of minutes trying to
get out via the bottom of the box rather than the open top.
Not the smartest of creatures. Good deed for the day. I
love bumble bees, something strangely cute about them
(unlike wasps - shudder).

Wasps are bovver boys while bees give every appearance of being rather
benevolent and not looking for trouble. I am convinced that wasps *like*
annoying people, spoiling their al fresco suppers etc. ;-)
One of the best ways to catch bees is a match box. Empty it, slide it open
and turning it upside down, put it over the bee. Slowly slide it shut, take
it outside, open it. Bingo. I hope!


Bees / bumble bees all seem to be far more interested in
flowers than me, but wasps on the other hand are "hoodie"
bees - just hanging around looking for trouble.

I don't know if there are different varieties of bumble
bees but the one I rescued would have pretty well filled a
standard sized match box, it was huge. The loud hum it was
making was also impressive - like some noisy electrical
equipment.

I have a pathological fear of wasps. As a child playing in
some bushes the ground beneath my feet gave way demolishing
the home of a substantial number of wasps - I didn't know
the nest wast there but the wasps sure made a thing of it -
I was stung head to toe - probably around 50 or more
stings. They were all over me and chased me a good 100
yards while I was trying to beat them off my clothes with a
stick. Since then wasps hold a certain dread for me.

That happened to a friend of mine digging in her garden. She ended up in
hospital. My bees attacked me and the stings made me ill but that was my
own fault, really. I suppose from the wasps pov, blundering uninvited into
their home is human fault but they do it to us........ ;-)


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 26/2/08 11:03, in article
,
" wrote:

On 26 Feb, 09:47, Sacha wrote:

One of the best ways to catch bees is a match box. *Empty it, slide it open
and turning it upside down, put it over the bee. *Slowly slide it shut, take
it outside, open it. *Bingo. *I hope!

Or, leave said matchbox lying around in the vicinity of smokers who
might be after a light

Shades of the scorpions episode in My Family and Other Animals. I must have
read that a dozen times and still it never fails to make me laugh.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'