[LEPS-L:7923] Re: Nice account: An encounter with honeybees

Anne Kilmer viceroy at gate.net
Sun Nov 19 15:54:53 EST 2000


Polistes are sweet little wasps, and do not sting unless you bang into
their nest. Unfortunately they festoon hurricane shutters with their
little paper confections, and my beloved husband got nailed during the
exciting hurricane season ... '64 or so? It sensitized him, and for
years we had to carry a bee sting kit. After a while, his immune system
forgot all about it. 

You can poke their nest down with a stick, and they don't figure it out.
Mellow? Dumb? Both? 
These are small little colonies of half a dozen wasps, and I don't
imagine that causing trouble would be a useful lifestyle.  
Anne Kilmer
south florida

David Webster wrote:
> 
> Michael Gochfeld wrote:
> 
> > Dave Green gave us a nice (and affectionate account) of Honey Bees.
> >
> > Every time I wander through a field of flowers searching for skippers, I
> > am intrigued by the fact that I never get stung by any of the
> > Hymenopteran creatures I disturb from their nectaring.  What's even more
> > intriguing is the specificity that emerges when one looks closely at the
> > nectaring bees and wasps. Polistes (Paper Wasps) for example, I only see
> > on Goldenrod,
> 
> <snip>
>                 Nov 19, 2000
>         I sent this previously, by accident, to Michael only and not to the
> list. Apologies for the double post Michael. DW
>                         Nov 18, 2000
>     Can anyone comment on typical severity of paper wasp stings ? While
> working near some occupied nests this summer I got "stung" 4 times but
> none
> of them amounted to anything (at the time or later) so I am wondering if
> this is the usual experience. Do these wasps perhaps pinch with their
> mandibles when threatened ?
>     Our paper wasps show a definite preference for the white goldenrod
> (_Solidage bicolor_) as opposed to either nearby plants of yellow
> species
> such as _S. rugosa_ or _S. puberula_ or flowers of other plants.
>     Dave Webster, Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
> 
> 
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