A handy reference guide for you
Submitted 1 month ago by gigastasio@sh.itjust.works to [deleted]
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/a6aec52c-b76a-40b2-bf04-f9858a30d427.jpeg
Comments
W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
fireweed@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Wasps are pollinators too 🥺
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
SOME wasps are, and often not very good ones.
Yellowjackets aren’t anywhere near prolific enough at pollination (or the insect corpse cleanup they specialize in) to make those flying terrorists worthwhile.
Solitary wasps are cool, though, they can stay.
blargh513@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
When I was a teenager, I grew up in the country so we had wasps everywhere. I hated them. One morning in the summer I was dead asleep–until I was awakened by a wasp that stung me in the fucking neck. So this asshole had to fly into my room decide to land on me, probably crawl around a bit and then decide “Fuck this guy right here NNNNNNG”. I was so goddamn angry and confused. I had to get up and tend to the sting because I swell like a moteherfucker. However, being a lazy teenager, I went back to bed. I woke up about 10 minutes later because I then felt it CRAWLING ON ME AGAIN. I was so fucking furious, I just monkey pounded it into a million little pieces with my fists in the mattress.
Fuck wasps, I spent many years capturing them, holding them with tweezers and slowly cooking them over a candle. Not sorry.
dejova281@lemmy.world 1 month ago
This is me except with a Yellowjacket that flew into my ear and stung me in my ear canal then casually flew out.
It was actually so profound that it caused problems with my wax production and skin in that ear, and have had constant allergy issues with it ever since.
I swore to myself I’d wage war on every yellowjacket from that day forward. Same thing with carpenter bees, I actively swat and stomp those buggers - they’ve destroyed so much of my structural wood on my property they are beyond a nuisance.
Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I am not trying to be a one-upper, but I do have a similar story.
Before rennovating a house I lived in, we had TERRIBLE windows. The kind that let drafts of air and all sorts of creepy crawlies in. Well, an engineering paper wasp decided to build a nest in the eaves above my bathroom window. I was battling those red wasps with the jet black wings for a whole summer.
I was in the shower one day. I got done. I grabbed my towel from the towel hook and started drying off. It turns out there was a wasp on the towel, and it stung the shit out of my abdomen in a few places.
I ran around naked in the house swatting at the little bastard. I had to take another shower because of all of the sweat from running around swatting.
I got out of the shower to ANOTHER wasp on my towel. I noticed this one before it stung me.
I have since replaced the windows, but I STILL inspect my towels to this day.
BanMe@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Astonishing how often I see someone start swatting at a paper wasp when it gets curious.
The fuck? It’s like a dog smelling you, but that dog has a stinger. You don’t swat at the fucking thing. You chill out and act real casual. Maybe pretend you didn’t even notice it. What wasp? I didn’t see any wasps. Now check my back so we can get our asses inside.
W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Agreed. I was taught to stand still and let the bee do its thing.
Maybe that was all just propaganda by big bee……
Iusedtobeanalien@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Bastards
mech@feddit.org 1 month ago
The myth that bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly according to science needs to die.
They wouldn’t be able to fly in an outdated, simplified model, where you just plug in their wingspan, weight and how fast they move their wings against air resistance.
If you account for the fact that air molecules are a lot larger relative to their size than to a bird’s, and therefore air acts more like water at that small scale, it’s no surprise they can fly, and scientists know that.
EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
I remember watching a video from a physicist who failed her pilot’s license exam because she explained that and the modern theories of how airplane flight works instead of the old wingspan, weight, speed, and air density over the wings model.
Needless to say, she took the test again, gave the answer they wanted, and the video was about her building a plane out of wood about a month after she finished the launch of her Mach 2.1 capable model rocket.
TheBenCommandments@infosec.pub 1 month ago
Well that sounds cool. Got a link?
smiletolerantly@awful.systems 1 month ago
Wait I can PET BUMBLEBEES?!
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Bumblebees are pretty gentle, and whereas I used to be extremely scared of bees (and especially bumblebees because of their size), I find them adorable to observe up-close now that I’ve gotten over my fear.
However, the question I would ask regarding petting is: why? When I pet a household dog or a cat, it’s ideally because I think it comforts them, and at worst (if they’re mildly annoyed and I don’t realize), it’s never going to harm them.
For the bee, though, it’s probably strictly uncomfortable for them to have a being 50,000 times their size come up and start putting pressure on them. (Bees can distinguish noxious stimuli, but they do still respond somewhat to regular tactile stimulation; see p.3.)
Their wings and legs are fragile, and it’s not like they can’t be accidentally provoked into stinging you. If they’re just minding their own business, it’s really best to leave them alone, because at best you’re not comforting them, and at worst you’re physically harming them.
smiletolerantly@awful.systems 1 month ago
That’s a really well argued paragraph. But have you considered: why pet shaped if not for petting?
(Jokes aside though. Point taken. But there’s nothing you can say to kee p me from talking to them in baby talk from now on when I’m out gardening amongst them. Whose a big stripey boy? Yes you are, aren’t you? :))
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 month ago
What about wood bees? If I knock them out with smoke are they chill enough to pet? If I use good smoke?
fireweed@lemmy.world 1 month ago
You can (very, very carefully!) pet the top of their thorax when they’re not flying, such as when preoccupied with feeding at a flower, although as TheTechnician27 outlined, it’s probably not good for them. Better is if you can find one that’s struggling to fly (semi-common this time of year, when things are still warming up) and then you can warm the little guy in your hands if they’re cold or chauffeur them from flower to flower if they’re hungry. Often this will help them regain the strength to keep flying, but sometimes they never do; I assume in these cases they’re dying, but at least I gave them some hospice care. It’s very strange to deposit a struggling bee on a flower, watch it feed, and then see it wiggle its little feet in the air like it’s calling the magic carpet back for another lift.
socsa@piefed.social 1 month ago
Definitely, I boop them all the time in the spring when they are swarming the flowers.
rockerface@lemmy.cafe 1 month ago
They’re floofy!
Sludgehammer@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Honey Bee
is the bee that needs help the most
I’d argue the opposite. There are thousands species of solitary native bees in small niches that need help way more. By contrast honey bees are either livestock or feral livestock that competing with the native bees.
PolyLlamaRous@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yes. Thank you. When I was a bee keeper I learned some about the things. Do honey bees have various issues and struggles … Sure. Are the large varieties of native wild bees soooo much more fucked - yep. Yes they are.
BanMe@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yay came here for this. I was all excited to start a couple of beehives in my back yard. Then I discovered their lineage and what they’re doing to the native bees. Instead I realized I am hosting tons of huge ass bumblebees in my yard, and I’ll just let them be(e). Maybe get some of those bee houses for solitary bees instead.
Danquebec@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Also, it’s better to grow native plants than to provide a house. A house without food is useless.
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
I love bumblebees so much. Just saw a couple flying in 70km/h wind gusts today. So stupid. So graceful
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 month ago
I once bought a house with two pear trees, and I quickly learned to pick up any fruit that dropped on the ground. The juice would ferment under the skin, and yellow jackets would pierce the skins, and get drunk. Then they’d chase me around the yard when I tried to work in my big organic vegetable garden.
It turns out, yellow jackets are mean drunks, but that’s probably not a surprise.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 1 month ago
gigastasio@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Five minutes is a long time when something hurts like a mf.
AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Paper wasps have a unique perspective of “provoked.”
I was tired so I just decided to land and rest on your head. Why are you provoking me?
I was building a nest in the only door you use to come in and out of your house. When you tried to leave, I flew directly into your path and basically body checked you. Why are you provoking me?
zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Yeah, those wasps are assholes, just not quite as much of assholes as yellow jackets. Weirdly enough, I’ve been stung by everything on this list that is capable of doing so including bumble bees. Bees hate me and I hate them, but I still refrain from killing them because we need them around.
AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I always avoid killing bees but I am terrified of wasps. I grew up getting stung by these fuckers constantly. That’s how I found out I’m allergic.
They’re extremely aggressive and live in giant nests together. If you kill one, it releases pheromones or something that signals to the others and they swarm. I would beg my parents to do something about them because they made life absolutely miserable, but they had this weird fatalist attitude about them like “the wasps were here long before we were. They’ll be here long after.”
Realized as an adult that decoy paper wasps nests are very cheap and work surprisingly well as a repellent. You can also just use a brown paper sack. Could have saved myself from some very traumatic encounters if I had known that sooner.
DarkSurferZA@lemmy.world 1 month ago
This list seems to have been written by paper wasps cause that’s the only bullshit on here. Those things will sing you for whatever reason it deems necessary.fuck those things
Vieric@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They are all over the place here. They are Satan incarnate and will sting the shit out of you for any or no reason.
OR3X@lemmy.world 1 month ago
My most recent run in with these fuckers involved one building a nest in the BED OF MY TRUCK and then stinging me after I drove to work and got out. Bastards. I respect most insects but wasps get the death spray without question.
DarkSurferZA@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Death spray, every time!
KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 1 month ago
This would be welcome on !coolguides@lemmy.ca (which sorely needs content)!
DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I was eating some chicken outside.
A yellow jacket buzzed around.
So I held a little teeny-tiny piece of it for it.
Things seem to be okay; but then I felt it.
Was it a sting or was it a bite?
Maybe it mistook my thumb for some of the chicken—chicken is often greasy.
It wasn’t really painful, but I decided it wore out it’s welcome, so I probably flicked it away.
I don’t think I ever saw it again.
At another time, a few came through my window.
So I put some syrup on a cap to see what will happen.
A few more flew in.
They drank it up—they sure seem to like syrup a lot.
I guess after they had their fill, the flew away—“buzzed off” if you will.
peanuts4life@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
I love how this is formatted like a poem
AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I love watching the carpenter bees at my house. The ones that are on patrol follow the most exact flight patterns, it’s crazy. They always fly the same narrow lane, same height, stop and hover at the same spot for the same length of time. It’s amazing to watch.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I had carpenter bees at my old house that were so tame I could grab them out of the air and pet them.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
Unintentionally pressed my elbow into a hive if red paper wasps.
STRAIGHT FUCKING FIRE 🔥🔥🔥. Don’t recommend it. 3\10.
Opisek@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
You must’ve liked it at least a little bit to rate it 3/10. Admit it.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
Lol. Gotta leave a little room down there for the “it can always get worse” section.
Grostleton@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Hoverflies are so sweet, sometimes there’ll be one or two hovering near me and I’ll just stick out a finger for them and they’ll chill there for awhile.
Makes me feel like a Disney princess but with bugs 😊
backalleycoyote@lemmy.today 1 month ago
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 month ago
In my experience, the paper wasp description applies to the yellow jackets. They are fairly common around outdoor eating areas around here, especially near the garbage cans. I find they mostly just check out the food, though they will check you out, too, and will sometimes get right into your face, but I’ve found a good way of reclaiming your space is to slowly push them away. You probably won’t even make contact with them while you do so because they react fast.
Though I’ve also noticed that they (and bugs in general) are more interested in some people over others and I’m lucky to be on the low interest to bugs side of the spectrum.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 1 month ago
Even been stung by paper wasps twice. First time I was a child and freaked out cause, again, child. Second time was just a few years ago helping a neighbor move a dryer. Such my hand all up inside that nest and caught massive a half dozen stings before I figured out what was going on. It seriously felt like slight electric shocks, but the pain faded in a matter of minutes and wasn’t all that bad during that time.
LogicalDrivel@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
when i was about 10, i was climbing on the picnic pavilion at the park. I had got to the roof and went to get down by holding the edge of the roof and rolling/flipping off of it. I got a firm grasp of paper wasp nest with one hand and halfway through my flip down, i felt the stings. Let go and fell flat on my back in the mulch then booked it home faster than ive ever run.
Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
Went down a metal slide once and a swarm of them came out of one of the top poles. Swarmed my throat and stung me several times there. Survived, but it was horrible.
dgdft@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Y’all sleeping on black soldier flies.
They’re copycats that look like mud daubbers, but have no ability to sting or bite. They don’t readily transmit human diseases, and they compete with noxious species like house flies and roaches. Present in most places across the globe.
Their larvae are the most-efficient known converts of input biomass to output protein, they can compost most household foods quite easily, and they’re an excellent animal feed.
hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
stop demonizing wasps ffs. they’re just trying to live
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
They’re not though, they’re going out of their way to attack stuff 10,000,000,000 times its weight. For nothing.
hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
Since when? Either you bothered them, or they just came close to you out of curiousity. Stop pretending that an entire species of animals are assholes just because you are too ignorant to even try to understand them.
DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They can be quite fearless.
neomachino@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Nah fuck those things
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Where the killer bees?
gigastasio@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
They’re right behind you.
fireweed@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Asia, where they belong (and stay there!)
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Last time heard about them is they are in the states and have killed people here.
Rooster326@programming.dev 1 month ago
Dirt Daubers do not build nests in the ground.
I have them all over my garage. I have accepted that something will live in the eaves and they are the least aggressive.
I can literally scrape their nests off and throw them out in front of them.
Absolutely zero parental instincts.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
will let you pet it without getting agitated
Wait, seriously?!
some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 1 month ago
If you ever have chilly spring/fall mornings, you can often find one perched on a flower “sleeping in”. (Really their metabolisms just slow way down in the cold, and they’re waiting for the sun to hit.) You can get some tiny pets in for sure. be gentle though, they’re just little guys
NightmareQueenJune@lemmy.world 1 month ago
One landed on the hand of my sister and wasn’t bothered by her petting it.
But this is highly anecdotal.amphetaminisiert@feddit.nl 1 month ago
Don’t ever “catch” a bumblebee between your hands. It will sting/bite (idk what they do, someone said they bite but I’m not sure) and that hurts like hell! Did that one time as a kid thinking they can’t do anything and regretted it really quickly!
AstroLightz@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah, to me all of these scream “Run tf away, go inside and don’t come back out until tomorrow.” (I am deafly afraid of bees)
Bonje@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Dirt Dauber looks like an RPG Munition
crank0271@lemmy.world 1 month ago
One time as I was turning down my bed a paper wasp (or possibly grass wasp, I didn’t get a chance to ask it) that was hiding in the sheets stung me on the hand. And now I hope I can share some of that previously unrealized fear with all of you.
Etterra@discuss.online 1 month ago
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Wasps are chill, if you don’t try to kill them and don’t feed them sugar.
Observed one eating my bread last year in a street coffee. They can eat surprisingly much in a equally surprising short time.
87Six@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Comparing bumblebees to pandas is a disgrace bro
realitaetsverlust@piefed.zip 1 month ago
Okay can I actually pet bumblebees or is this just a meme?
bearboiblake@pawb.social 1 month ago
Honey bees don’t actually “need help the most”, they’re widely kept for honey production. Solitary wasps are much more endangered. Not yellowjackets, though, fuck those guys.
Typhoon@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
European honey bees are an invasive species in a lot of places. They’re actually part of the problem because they are imported for our use and crowd out the native bees.
Town@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
This is also not at all comprehensive. There are many thousands of species of wasps and native bees. Not to mention all the yellow stripy flies that mimic wasps.
evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yellow jackets are generalist predators. As long as they aren’t making a nest somewhere real close to where you want to be, they are good at killing a whole lot of pests.
bearboiblake@pawb.social 1 month ago
It was just a little joke really, I’m not going to war with yellow jackets or anything, but one did sting me for no reason once, so tensions do remain high between our cultures.
Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I think it was meant as in ‘we need to build them hives and stuff’ who knows. Definitely don’t need much help, those guys
tyler@programming.dev 1 month ago
They’re pretty dumb. They drown in my bird bath constantly.