Dinner Neutralized

Paper wasps are vespid wasps. They construct nests that made of papery material made from woody plant fiber mixed with their saliva.  

Like this nest. 

This sucker is larger than a basket ball and I gave it a wide berth last summer as the occupants have a reputation of defending their nest from any and all threats – perceived or real – by aggressively stinging the invader. 

Meet Dolichovespula maculata – the Bald-faced hornet.  

uwm.edu

Also called the white-faced hornet, white-ass hornet, bull wasp and black jack.  This insect is technically not a hornet but is a yellow jacket wasp from the genus Vespa. 

It is perfectly safe to examine the nest now as the colony does not overwinter in it and never uses the same nest again. A fertilized queen is the lone survivor and she is holed-up beneath some leaf litter it in the bark of a tree. She’ll emerge when the weather moderates to establish a colony from scratch. 

As the danger has been neutralized it appears that the birds who overwinter here have been scavenging any dead eggs, larvae or insects from this nest. 

Yum!

Look-Up!

Four years ago I was out brushing trails and clearings like I ordinarily do this time of year and later discovered I had a close encounter with a nest of bald faced hornets hanging in a white pine.

I never took notice of the nest at the time and as a consequence took no special measures to avoid knocking it from the tree with the roll bar of the tractor.

My Guardian Angel earned some hazardous-duty pay that particular afternoon as it was a close call with the wasps.

Ever since then I have been particularly attentive to be aware of my surroundings and always look-up before driving under any tree branches that might be shaken or disturbed by any chores I am performing.  

Like this nest of bald faced hornets.

That Mama Jama is bigger than a basketball and was one of two I spotted Friday and Saturday and gave a wide berth so as not to disturb the inhabitants.

It's one thing to watch where you step to avoid tripping and falling.  Yet sound advice to look-up too.

Trust me on this....

Guardian Angels

I don't know if you believe in Guardian Angels but I certainly do.  I've had too many close brushes with fate to abandonthis vestige of my Roman Catholic upbringing. “According to Church tradition”, Pope Francis said, “we all have an angel with us, who guards us."

I had another brush with fate this last weekend.

While out brushing trails and clearing wildlife openings I have absolutely no idea why the roll bar on the New Holland tractor did not knock this basketball-sized nest full of hundreds of buzzing baldfaced hornets from the white pine where their nest was hung.

click on image to enlarge

That's it directly in the center of the photo.

I drove close to both edges of that tree and had I disturbed their lair the insects would have vigorously defend their nest. Baldfaced hornets are known for their defensive behavior. People are often stung when they accidentally stumble upon a hidden nest.

Even though I carry an epi-pen an attack by a swarm of these guys would have really missed-up my day or maybe even my life.

That Guardian Angel put in some hazardous duty overtime last weekend.  Do angels get a raise?