Velvet wrote:
Tony Williams wrote:
In article ,
David Hansen wrote:

I disagree. They are rather too aggressive for my liking, unlike
bees which are welcome.

Hmm.... we have a beekeeper keeping his hives
just down the road. The strain of bee he uses
is a nasty sort of yellow looking thing, very
aggressive when trapped inside the house. We
have been told that he uses these aggressive
bees because they produce the best honey. Not
much comfort to SWMBO, who is liable to go into
a dangerous shock if stung. ((

--
Tony Williams.

I've thought for quite a while that 'honey' bees are getting a less
good-natured. I'm making the effort to encourage some solitary bees
into my garden though, having had them living in my brick chimney wall
in the old place for about a decade and finding them intriguing and
very docile.

I wasn't able to persuade any to use my solitary bee-house to take up
residence in the spring/summer that I had to move out, so didn't hold
out much hope, but this spring (the first in the new place) I'm
delighted to find solitary bees busily nesting in two of the tubes in
the house, so I expect a multiplying population of them when they hatch
out in the coming spring. It was fascinating watching them collect mud
where I'd watered a plant in to take back and stopper the tube with.

Honey bees and wasps I don't like, though I try and tolerate them
(unless indoors - bees are captured and put out, wasps often don't get
afforded the same treatment as they just seem to be hell-bent on coming
back in). Solitary bees I adore. I hear they're better pollinators
than honey bees too, though no idea if that's just rumour.

Velvet



I torched my daughters playhouse two summers ago due to wasps!!, I went
in to clean it out to find a bloody big nest in there, right I thought
flyspray'll do the trick. 30 seconds after the first squirt and 10 - 15
stings in i gave up and ran out slamming the door behind me, 20 -30 of
the buggers came with me though. Quick run round the garden ( not used
to running 16st and built for comfort not for speed).
Suitably infuriated at the cheek of the little blighters the red mist
was well and truly down, before I knew it I had doused the playhouse
with petrol from the mower can, leaving a trail up to it, light trail
at arms length and stood well back as it says on the tin, the mushroom
cloud was most impressive and got a few woo's and even a sceam from the
neighbours. After I ranted at them not to call the fire brigade they
realised I'd lost the plot and went inside to close their windows due
to the smoke.
the playhouse burnt well and behaved itself falling in on itself while
burning, I put a bit more rubbish that I had lying about on it while I
had a fire going, and it smouldered itsef to nothing in a few hours.
Raked up the ashes, grass seeded the scorch mark and you'd never know
it was there now :-)
Anyone else got an extreme wasp story ??

That was the last "red mist" episode I've had !! thankfully they are
few and far between :-)