09-02-2024, 08:37 AM
Wasps, thousands of them, every year around this time. They get so thick on the sides of the house that there's barely 2 feet without one sitting there. They also hover all over the place in front of the doors. Fortunately, they're totally non-aggressive and we've never been stung by any. Well, I was stung once by one that I accidentally sat on, and it stung me behind the knee. But generally they are just hovering around. And there's a weird twist to the wasps too.
When we first built the house they didn't show up, but after a couple years they began to show up. Their numbers seem to vary, but in the hot months of late July, August and early September they're out in force. I'm not a bug expert, but have a friend who is an entomologist, so we consulted him about the issue. He positively identified them as paper wasps which is weird because there's no nests. When I say no nests, I mean like "zero" nests...and we've looked, and looked...and looked. According to him, paper wasps generally don't travel more then about 300 meters from their nests. We've scoured the area for a half a mile in every direction and not found a single nest, so we have no idea where they're coming from.
I read an article recently which suggests that paper wasps sometimes take up residence in dirt cliffs, and we do have one of these on our property...a big one. Because it's about a 50' foot cliff with a creek below it and soft dirt at the top, I can't really rappel down it so I haven't been able to see if this is where they're coming from, but when I stand on top and look down I don't see any wasps.
I'd really like to figure out where the wasps are coming from because I'd like them to be gone. We've always wanted to raise bees, and you can't really do this if you have many wasps around because they'll kill the bees (which pisses me off).
Anyway, the mystery continues.
When we first built the house they didn't show up, but after a couple years they began to show up. Their numbers seem to vary, but in the hot months of late July, August and early September they're out in force. I'm not a bug expert, but have a friend who is an entomologist, so we consulted him about the issue. He positively identified them as paper wasps which is weird because there's no nests. When I say no nests, I mean like "zero" nests...and we've looked, and looked...and looked. According to him, paper wasps generally don't travel more then about 300 meters from their nests. We've scoured the area for a half a mile in every direction and not found a single nest, so we have no idea where they're coming from.
I read an article recently which suggests that paper wasps sometimes take up residence in dirt cliffs, and we do have one of these on our property...a big one. Because it's about a 50' foot cliff with a creek below it and soft dirt at the top, I can't really rappel down it so I haven't been able to see if this is where they're coming from, but when I stand on top and look down I don't see any wasps.
I'd really like to figure out where the wasps are coming from because I'd like them to be gone. We've always wanted to raise bees, and you can't really do this if you have many wasps around because they'll kill the bees (which pisses me off).
Anyway, the mystery continues.
