Comments on: Paper wasps: Are they worth the sting?

By: Jeff Wemmer

Sat, 18 Dec 2021 15:22:35 +0000

Paper wasps are amazing creatures. Read up on them. Apparently they are second only to the chimpanzee in facial recognition capabilities.

This means they are highly functioning creatures. We never disturb them, and actually encourage them to colonize around our home which is way out in the country. The ones that colonize our French doorways can actually be tamed. Well, sort of, they actually will not be aggressive if they get used to your movements.

We keep a large tract of unimproved land for the purpose of letting nature do its thing and get a lot of pleasure out of watching all types of critters, wasps are part of the equation. Strongly encourage leaving them alone.

We don’t have ground nesting yellow jackets here in the desert, but grew up on the East Coast where they were the scourge of fall wood harvesting.

Paper wasps are more dignified… Ha ha!

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By: elizabeth lutes

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 22:16:15 +0000

Christina. This is what I’m worried about. Did your dog mess with it? Or did they just attack? ]]>

By: Emily

Sat, 27 Jun 2020 22:26:13 +0000

My two year old got stung by one it was the saddest experience ever!! Luckily I had some activated charcoal on hand and mixed it in some honey. She was instantly better! The swelling was gone in less than an hour. If you have wasp in your yard definitely keep some of this in your medicine cabinet.

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By: Mateo

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 18:39:15 +0000

I just got stung yesterday right on my elbow….. Still swollen and itchy….. Got me twice on same elbow…..

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By: Christie G

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 14:50:15 +0000

I found an abandoned European paper wasp nest on the gorund and had it sitting in a bowl on my desk. A year later, 2 paper wasps appeared on it! They wouldn’t move far from the nest, so I gave them some pineapple. Sadly, I left them outside and the nest was destroyed and my poor paper wasps were gone. They must have appeared from outside, as it’s unlikely they were pupated inside the nest as they should have appeared earlier –> “Spring colony-founding phase of P. dominula in some areas of North America, where a large group of more than 80 wasps aggregated to reuse and expand an old nest”, although this is Europe… Must be a similar thing though.

There are many flying around now, but we never had a problem. My father stepped on one was stung, but that’s it.

I think I just found a paper wasp larva on the ground… Poor baby! Any ideas on what to do with it? Leave it there to cook? I’ve put it in an open jar for now and moved it to the shade. I’d like to raise it, but don’t know if and how it’s possible. Last time, I checked it was still alive. Oh well, circle of life I guess.

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By: Portia McCracken

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 17:57:31 +0000

In reply to Cathy James.

I was minding my business, walking my dog and searching for a particular headstone in a cemetery when I got stung on the heel of my hand. I wasn’t making noise, the dog wasn’t barking or digging, my clothes were mostly dark. I didn’t get a good look at the wasp–I was too intent on getting her off my hand–but my impression was a small, dark insect, the size of a yellowjacket but much darker. The sting hurt like hell, the area swelled up and kept hurting for days. Then it started itching. Miserable time!

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By: LYNND

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 01:39:10 +0000

In reply to Glyn.

I have been stung by a yellow jacket and, of course, bees, but in all my years the only time I’ve witnessed a paper wasp sting was when my cat stepped on one as a kid.

My spouse and I have a paper wasp nest under an eve on the side of our house near a path that we use every day. We knocked the nests we saw down over the winter the first year we were in the house but couldn’t dislodge the whole thing (too high for the garden hose pressure to work). That nest site *was reused* the following year but it took a bit of time before we realized that it was active again.

Beneath that nest my spouse installed an air conditioner through a wall. At that point, we had assumed it was just an empty nest but later I realized that it was much larger than what we recalled so I took a photo and zoomed in and saw that it was not unused (they were flying to/from).

Apparently, the European paper wasps just didn’t feel my spouse was a threat, despite all the work to the side of the house (about 12′ removed from the eve). My suggestion is to ignore the paper wasp nests unless they’re unusually large in size and/or close to a frequently used door.

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By: Jill Doetsch

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 01:59:47 +0000

In reply to Glyn.

Me too! They live under by eaves. They watch me..its cute. I leave them alone, I’ve been 4 inches from their nest..even gave them a peach..now Im their best bud..lol

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By: Jessica Walliser

Fri, 20 Sep 2019 16:54:40 +0000

In reply to Paco.

They will likely abandon it.

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By: Catty P

Sun, 08 Sep 2019 13:14:12 +0000

I found one in my tree last week. Now I’m afraid to let my dogs out. So I took a garden hose and put a power washer like nozzle on it and from the ground I aimed it in the hole of the paper nest up in the tree. The water stream was very hard and I totally destroyed this paper nest and the wasps flew away. I have a video of it as well.
I did not get stung. They didn’t even come close to me.

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