Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have noticed a paper wasp nest starting to form in the apex of my greenhouse. I see the wasps on strawberry and tomato flowers, and also know they prey on caterpillars. Should I just coexist with them? Or knock the nest down and send them looking for a new home? Honey bees seem to have a hard time finding the plants in the greenhouse...even when the sides are up and doors open. I see them "trapped" up in the top, and often find then dead on the rails, after they exhaust themselves. I'm allergic to bees and wasps, but they are not very aggressive.

once I lifted the lid off my standpipe cover to find a paper wasp building a nest on the lid. We both froze and looked at each other before I threw the lid away and beat a hasty retreat. Lucky there were no eggs or it could have been a lot more aggressive.
I generally leave them alone.

Sorry , but its time for them to DIE! DIE! DIE!

they're staying for now CJ.lol

I have tons of paper wasps around here. I would just leave them. You might have to be a bit careful moving around plants they are on but I've never been stung by one. Hornets and Yellow Jackets are another story though. I haven't been stung by them either but they are very aggressive and I've even seen one chase off a hummingbird.

Scotty, agree on the hornets/jackets..they're too aggressive. I just keep seeing them crawling around on my blooms, so they're keeping me from having to hand pollinate with my electric toothbrush...I'm happy.

Seems every year i have a new wasp nest under one of my grow beds. I am averaging 1 sting every two years but almost always because i am tinkering around a nest that i did not yet know was present.

I welcome all predator of insects around my grow beds so i leave them be.

I too, let them be... as long as they are not in an obtrusive or high traffic area. 5 years and no stings. Do they "know" me, some identifiable smell, or at least my face? Something passed on from generation to generation perhaps

I know as social insects they can visually ID each other by their face. Why not larger creatures who are not a threat?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... e-animals/

When I am in the gardens, they will land on my arms and shoulders, look for a few seconds and go about their business. I like to think they remember me

Oh, They are also a huge help with caterpillars. Here is a pic of one "juicing" a caterpillar to take back to the nest. It is kinda hard to see, but they bite off an end and roll out the guts [green/black in front of wasp's head] like a tube of toothpaste.



As a side note, mud daubers are also predatory, non aggressive, and are pollinators as the adults eat pollen and nectar.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Mud-Dauber_vq743.htm

Mud daubers really like spiders too...which are themselves welcome. Everyone's gotta eat.lol

It depends on the species and how allergic you are. Now understand I'm a beekeeper and teach beekeeping and allergy issues, so bear with me.

If they are yellowjackets, kill kill kill. They're aggressive and will build to a large population quickly. Most solitary wasps however are very non-defensive and will coexist invisibly unless you pinch them.

By "allergy" I'm going to assume you mean you barely make it to the ER when stung, and you carry an EpiPen at all times, all year, every day. If you are truly allergic you should get rid of them whatever species as it's just too much of a risk.

If you are like >90% of people who report "allergy", you have had a very painful reaction that included dramatic swelling that continued a good ways from the sting site. This is a normal reaction to a hymenopteran sting depending on the species. Many people (myself included in the past) can have a stress/fear reaction as well, compounding the reaction to the sting in a very frightening way. Many doctors in the US especially must practice what they call "defensive medicine" and will say, "yep that's an allergic reaction" and sell you an EpiPen that you actually do not need unless you have had airway obstruction or major swelling remote from the sting site. Technically the mechanism for normal sting reaction is an allergic reaction (in that it is a IgE-mediated reaction), but it is not an anaphylactic reaction which is what people mean when they talk about "allergy" to stings.

[Stepping off soapbox]

That is a good distinction to make. The few of use who have been stung and or bitten by lots and lots of creepy crawlies and never advanced past local swelling, forget that there is a whole spectrum of reaction. I learned something for sure. Thanks!

BC, given that info, I'll revise and say I have a "more severe then most reaction." Most people I know get a small red area, and some itchiness later. Mine is pretty heavy swelling(unrecognizable if stung in face area) which generally localizes to the joint. ie; stung in hand, hand blows up to 2-3x normal, stung in forearm, look like Popeye, etc. On second thought, maybe a should run around naked in the GH and hope for the sting in the area that would make the Mrs happy.lol Agree 100% on the Yellow jackets...zero tolerance for them.

CoachChris that's pretty typical for most people especially with a honeybee sting (YJs actually tend to be less dramatic). I kill most ANY YJ nest though as they prey on honeybees, are doing fine and don't need me help, and I just don't like the little bastards.

Get all medieval on their sting-y little butts.

We have loads of them around the shop, you can always see the wasps patrolling around inspecting the plants for food. In over 6 years we have never had a customer get stung, Nat was stung once when he got about a foot away from a nest he didn't know was there, and Sue was stung once when we were trying to get rid of a nest inside our power box..

They will be your best workers, patrolling for pests all day long..