My Yellow Jackets

[catherine]

So, this is a follow-up to my post on the "What Did You Succeed In Learning Today"

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/sho...ighlight=stump

The yellow jackets were slightly more aggressive as the summer went on and my son and daughter started complaining because they tended to be annoying when we were trying to eat outside. I understand that some people are freaked out by insects that sting, but they haven't bothered me at all, and I used to love watching them go in and out of their little stump-home.

But, when my neighbor, a hardy, fearless Vermont roofer, came to check out the stump and jumped back 3 feet when he realized they were not bees, but yellow jackets, DH was hell-bent on ridding the yard of the wasps.

So he and my son exterminated them with Raid, and then they took the stump and burned it in the fire pit.

I feel that same irrational sense of loss that I used to when we would throw out our live Christmas trees when I was young. I know the yellow jackets are pests, and I know they were a little annoying.

But I have observed that we had not ONE fly in our house this year. In previous years, a door would be left open and a fly would gain entrance. We always had a fly swatter and this year we didn't need one. Is it because the yellow jackets were guarding the door?

This is a very random post, and probably doesn't deserve a thread of its own, but I feel a bit sad when I walk down my path to the house and the Bee Stump is no longer there.

My son tells me that I'm just being a crazy, woo-woo crunchy-granola hippie mom, but I'm really just kind of feeling bad about the yellow jackets. Am I unreasonable? Have you ever had an irrational sense of loss?

[Tybee]

You are not at all unreasonable. And just so you know, when I read your thread title, I thought it was a fashion thread, and I imagined you with these multiple cheery Carnaby Street yellow jackets, circa 1968, and thought, how cool, how Catherine!

[ApatheticNoMore]

Bees had made a makeshift hive in my mom's yard. And this is bees, not hornets, not yellow jackets. The neighbors got to complaining. The bees had to go. I begged her, keep the bees, please, please don't get rid of the bees. The bees were gotten rid of (supposedly not killed). I miss them. Always flying in an out of the nest on the bee highway (er they'd follow a path in and out of the nest, a line, a "bee highway").

[Yppej]

Yes, I have had an irrational sense of loss. When I was pregnant I was watching an episode of "Punky Brewster" and a girl's mother died and I completely broke down thinking about what if I die and my baby is motherless. Talk about pregnancy hormones! My DH at the time said, "I can't believe you're crying about 'Punky Brewster'".

[razz]

https://gardeningwow.com/is-a-yellow...-6-quick-faqs/ Yellow jackets are beneficial..

I relate to this feeling of sorrow for killing things as well. I dislike spraying chemicals on grass as well. It comes down to our personal values, I think. If at all possible, I prefer to share space in harmony.
That said, crab grass just gets yanked out with vigour. Am I a hypocrite?

[iris lilies]

I don’t know. After your first post about these stinging insects I looked them up and I guess they are pretty nasty. I don’t have experience with them. I like many kind of bees, , love bumblebees, love carpenter bees. But these guys – I don’t know. I guess if you don’t have little kids around and animals around that will chase them and be hurt by them it might be OK to Harbor them but I’m not sure I would. It’s just I don’t like them right by a door.

We do put up with a small wasp nest at the community garden these creatures have built in our message board. We just know that whenever we change out a message which is about twice a year, we have to be very careful if they’re there.

[GeorgeParker]

Honey bees sting once and die, so they really want to avoid stinging you unless you're threatening their nest. But yellow jackets and similar nasties don't die when they sting, so when they get mad they attack and keep stinging you over and over. Don't feel bad about killing them if they make a nest close to your house. Just keep reminding yourself that you are the alpha predator in your environment and it is your genetic duty to create a safe habitat for your family while doing as little harm as possible to other species.

[Tybee]

Honey bees sting once and die, so they really want to avoid stinging you unless you're threatening their nest. But yellow jackets and similar nasties don't die when they sting, so when they get mad they attack and keep stinging you over and over. Don't feel bad about killing them if they make a nest close to your house. Just keep reminding yourself that you are the alpha predator in your environment and it is your genetic duty to create a safe habitat for your family while doing as little harm as possible to other species.

See, I don't see myself as an alpha predator. The plants and animals and I are all in this together, and we all try to work around each other as much as possible. I think it is very possible to be a non-predator but rather co-creator with the plants and animals.

[razz]

See, I don't see myself as an alpha predator. The plants and animals and I are all in this together, and we all try to work around each other as much as possible. I think it is very possible to be a non-predator but rather co-creator with the plants and animals.

Same viewpoint from me.

[pinkytoe]

What I thought were native ground bees turned out to be wasps that had built their nests inside one of my wooden planting beds. I have lived peacefully with them all summer though I keep my distance. In exchange, I have noted a very observable absence of pesky garden insects. Yesterday, I watched one of them roll a pupae (?) of some insect larger than himself across the ground. It always amazes me how creatures have such a sense of purpose in their short existence.