The Wasp

[Squatchit]

The Wasp

When the ripe pears droop heavily,
The yellow wasp hums loud and long
His hot and drowsy autumn song.
A yellow flame he seems to be,
When darting suddenly from high
He lights where fallen peaches lie.

Yellow and black - this tiny thing's
A tiger-soul on elfin wings.

William Sharp (1856-1905)

I USED to have no problem with wasps -- live and let live, was my philosophy. That was until ground bees (aka wasps -- look a lot like yellow jackets) took up residence under the brick landing of our deck. We were seeding the yard and had the bag of grass seed sitting on the deck. I was scooping up the seed in a large plastic cup and sprinkling in on the yard. As I was coming back down off the deck with my cup full of grass seed, I got stung. I ended up getting stung about 5 times -- hand, face and lower back.

We've also had hornets nest in our roof. It was very scary when my daughter heard scratching sounds coming from her ceiling and then we saw a hornet come in her room from the recessed light.

My philosophy now has been altered to live and let live as long as they don't move into my house or property!! We can co-exist only if they find your own place away from my property. If they violate that, then they will be removed. If they attack me or my family -- I consider it a declaration of war and they will be eradicated!!

Each spring, I see any wasps (or hornets) I tell them that they are not welcome to live on my property or my house. And I keep a sharp eye out for any hornets that come into my yard. They are mean tempered insects. One stung my husband when he let the dog in one night (this was before we realized that we had hornets nesting in our roof). He said that the sting was like 10 times worse than a yellow jacket and it made his heart race. He suffered all night from it. I was asleep, so I didn't find out until the next day.