Sunday, August 30, 2015

Paper Wasp

Paper wasp nest post removal.  You know this ended up at my desk.

We've been having a problem with paper wasps this year.  A few weeks ago I finally was stung by one (which had happened to get caught between the screen door and the actual door and I smushed it with my elbow while trying to open the door).  We've already sprayed 3 nests, removed 2 of them, and have another 3 that I've found that we probably need to spray at some point, but I'm one of those people who is like "not just live and let live, but live and HELP live" so I only ever want to remove nests if they're actively causing a problem.  All of these nests have been from the Polistes exclamans variety.  But just the other day I found the first Polistes carolina nest (Red Wasp), so I wonder if we'll see some sort of duking it out between the two types of paper wasp. 

On the plus side, I don't have any caterpillars in the yard.  On the downside, I don't have any caterpillars in the yard.  I've resorted to finding newly hatched queen and monarch caterpillars and bringing them inside.  I usually try to wait a few days to bring them in because when they're itty-bitty it's tougher to keep them alive, but at the same time, Live and HELP live, right?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Live and Help Live.... good motto.