To celebrate the wasps have returned 👏

I will stop short of celebrating,having had one down my blouse at school which stung me on my neck and boobs, and also one inside a coke can which stung under my lip causing me to be so swollen that my nose and cheek were flat on that side! That said, I will happily trap them and put them back outside (unlike my pension age brother who still runs round like a toddler, flapping his hands if one comes within 5 feet!)

I’m currently in Austria and there are loads of wasps. I asked one of the waiters about it - he said they had none last season and they are pleased as it shows it will be a harsh winter, so the snow will be good. No idea if this is true!

We are currently experiencing a fly deluge and it's hideous. We have a little set of steps going up under an archway next to a pond and it's full of them. Big clouds of buzzy fat fuckers flying every which way and I have to walk through them to get to the rest of the garden. We have nicknamed it the tunnel of flies. I can't find anything food related that's attracting them, they just seem to like being near the water and the relatively cool air. It's only a couple of metres from our kitchen door but they show no interest in coming in, in fact if one gets accidentally trapped inside it asks to go out by banging its head repeatedly on the window. I have a horrible suspicion they're coming here to have sex.

If wasps could make the slightest dent in this plague I'd be their biggest fan but no, they're all too busy getting pissed on next door's fallen apples.

I loathe wasps. They are flying sharks, cruising round, looking for victims. I've been stung twice and both times I wasn't doing anything to annoy them.

Wasps do not eat flies. Wasps feed flies to their larvae.

I appreciate their right to exist and as pollinators. That's it. They can stay the hell away from my lunch, annoying, persistent little sods.

I have lots, they like to drink from my pond 😊

A couple of years ago they built a nest in an old bird nesting box on our patio. It was brilliant watching them & none of us got stung. When they'd all died off I took the nest out & framed it 😊

I also get lots of solitary bees and have to buy more bee boxes every year 😊

I’ll be honest I was just worried this year in general as I’ve never seen so few wasps and bees.

What plant is that, if you don't mind my asking?

I had a wasps nest and they ate through my ceiling. Was a nightmare. I hate them

@chimichangaz i think small sticks or twigs would be a perfect escape route 🙂

I wonder if they go for certain blood over others. My DS has never been stung, he has a massive fear of getting stung, he’d run into traffic to avoid one. I remember a friends child being stung above the lip. It looked very painful.

I’ve been stung and didn’t find it too painful. It’s their stripy bodies that hang down, the way they hover and swoop around, their creepy legs…😖 yeuch. Spiders don’t bother me in the slightest for some reason

Absolutely hate them with a passion.
Accidentally stood on a wasps nest when I was a child - stung many times (haven't forgotten).
Through the years, have been stung quite a few times (no provocation on my part).
If I think I'm going to be stung, will kill it if possible.
And - they murder bees.

I am not scared of them. I have never been stung so might feel different. I filmed one suckling on a dandelion the other day. It was fantastic watching it so close zoomed in the long tongue. 🐝

Thank fuck for that, I’ll be welcoming them with a fanfare! After being bombarded with numerous flies yesterday, I noticed we only had three in today…I thought it might be the magical powers of my peppermint spray all over the window frames but maybe the wasps have scoffed them 👏🏻

I'd rather have flies than wasps, tbh.

One randomly landed on my then 2yo's face and stung him just below the eye. No food to tempt it, just a nasty aggressive stingy September wasp in twat mode.

Poor DS looked so swollen and miserable afterwards.

Hope your 3yo is ok now.

I watched some a few weeks ago as the collected little balls of tuna from a discarded sandwich to take back to their nests, it was amazing!

Assuming you’re not allergic, getting stung may help? I used to be much more afraid of them than before I was stung as an adult and realised it was just a bit annoying and uncomfortable for an hour but ultimately no big deal. Now I just hate them, I’m not actively scared of them.

Yes I thought this until one stung my 3 year old yesterday who was just sat eating her ice cream and it just flew at her and stung her on the leg.

I understand they have a purpose, but unfortunately I have a phobia of them. Come summer my windows are shut, I won’t wear any form of scent or drink from cans. I won’t eat outside in cafes since I left my lunch untouched and ran off in Luxembourg because they descended on our table. I hate their stripes 😣 If anyone has any tips on conquering wasp phobia I’d love to hear them

Nah theyre now at the stage where theyre not useful in killing flies. All they want is sugar as theyve been kicked from nest duties and are in their villian era now