Wasps

[Toddy]

I was stung on my ear by wasp just after 7 this morning. First time I've ever been stung by a wasp or bee and nearly twelve hours later it's still throbbing like earache. Hot, bright red and badly swollen and aching even though I wiped the area virtually instantly with vinegar, and took an anti-histamine tablet.

My neighbour has had a byke up behind his fascia boardings all summer long, but the wasps really haven't been a pest until now. The pest control people say there's very little they can do so late on on the year, but will come out next week.
What deters wasps? How can I keep them off me while I work in the garden or woods, etc., until the cold kills them all?

See this global warming? We are so in need of a really cold winter to kill off the buggits. The gardens are alive with earwigs and ants......and we rarely even see these normally; makes me wonder what else is surviving and thriving.

Not so cheerfully,
Tddy

 

[Ogri the trog]

Toddy
I'll second the request for a good cold snap this winter, it's been a few years since we had a good cold one in Wales, barely got into the minus single figures last year - 2001 got down to minus18 for two nights which froze out a lot of nastiness.
As to what might keep the beasties at bay, I'd go for the normal things like citroenella or lemongrass and avoid bright colours (not that I imagine you'd wear bright gaudy colours anyway). I always thought that antihistamines took a while to build up in the body, so taking one alone would have minimal effect, but I'm open to correction here.

Hope all is well soon

Ogri the trog

 

[led]

I can comiserate, as I was stung in a rather more delicate area than that , and it took a good few days for it to get back to normal.

If you want to get rid of them, then you can use almond essence. Squirt or sprinkle it around and on the nest. Wasps really dislike the smell. I've got rid of two wasps' nests in this way, much more preferable tthan using poisons etc.

 

[arctic hobo]

Try the old jam dish trick - they always prefer jam to people
I'll join you folks in your wish for cold (cold? in the UK? It's lies!), although Norway has taught me that -30 still doesn't get rid of mosquitoes! Grrr...

 

[Toddy]

Try the old jam dish trick - they always prefer jam to people
I'll join you folks in your wish for cold (cold? in the UK? It's lies!), although Norway has taught me that -30 still doesn't get rid of mosquitoes! Grrr...

Thanks for the advice folks. I think I may go for a multi prong defence
How come they have mosquitos in Norway at -30, yet we don't get them here and we're an awful lot warmer? Is it just *too* wet? I know historically there were mosquitos in Edinburgh, etc., but why not now? maybe the midgies just outbred them

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Porcupine]

take a slice of lemon and push in some cloves.

works for my sister in law

 

[Kane]

If you want to get rid of them, then you can use almond essence. Squirt or sprinkle it around and on the nest. Wasps really dislike the smell. I've got rid of two wasps' nests in this way, much more preferable tthan using poisons etc.

So does it stop them going back to the nest or will they leave the nest to get away from it? I think we have a nest in one of the disused chimneys, don't want to use poison 'cos there's a vent into the kids bedroom from the flue.

Kane

 

[led]

So does it stop them going back to the nest or will they leave the nest to get away from it? I think we have a nest in one of the disused chimneys, don't want to use poison 'cos there's a vent into the kids bedroom from the flue.

They will all leave the nest and find somewhere else to go. At this time of year they might not be in the best humour, so apply the almond essence (make sure it's on and around the nest), then leave them well alone for 24 hours or so. I was sceptical when I first heard about it, but as I said, it's worked brilliantly with the two nests I've tried it with.

 

[richardw]

When my eldest son was about 10 years old he dived in a bush whilst playing. He ended up with about 60 wasp stings to his body and was, as you can imagine it a pretty bad state!

Even now, 14 years later, if he is stung by a wasp he gets immediate swelling of the face, tongue and arms (which could have potentially fatal consequences). We always make him carry anti histamine tablets with him wherever he is.

Last week he was stung once and took 2 tablets immediately. This worked and he only got a small amount of swelling which subsided after about 24 hours although the pain of the sting lingered for about 5 days.

Richard

 

[ilovemybed]

Sorry to hear about your assault Toddy

Wasp stings are annoying - they can throb for ages.

You can make a simple trap with a 2 litre pop bottle. Buy a really sugary one like Irn Bru, not one of these cheapo ones with sweeteners, wasps aren't fooled! Once most of it's been drunk, but not all, chop the top part of the bottle off, just below where it starts to taper. Invert that section (which should look like a funnel) and replace it upside down in the newly cut opening with the lid off. The wasps should get in, but find it difficult to get out. If you want a more humane version, I suppose you could get all the juice out and use some drier sweet stuff like fruit so they don't drown.

Having cleaned up after a wedding or two, I discovered that stale Pimms, with cucumber, strawberries and all, is perhaps the best wasp bait ever!

Hope that helps.

Neil

 

[Grooveski]

Originaly Posted by Toddy
How come they have mosquitos in Norway at -30, yet we don't get them here and we're an awful lot warmer? Is it just *too* wet? I know historically there were mosquitos in Edinburgh, etc., but why not now? maybe the midgies just outbred them

I've wondered that as well.
Are Kleggs related to them, or are they a different beastie altogether? There was some amount of them this year.

makes me wonder what else is surviving and thriving

Out at Scotty's at the weekend there were more dragonflies than I've ever seen in one place in my life.
......and gloworms.

 

[match]

I know historically there were mosquitos in Edinburgh, etc., but why not now?

Edinburgh used to have mosquitoes due to the large areas of standing water in the town - which is most cases eventually turned into amarshy swamp - perfect breeding conditions.

Both Princes St Gardens and the Meadows used to be Lochs - they eventually filled up with the town's waste, became stagnant marshes (the marsh gas given off my the Old Town Loch may well be a cause of the repeated sitings fo ghosts in the vennels and causeways leading dwon to it from the Royal Mile). These marshes were warm from the fermentation and artificially sustained a lot of insect life, especially mosquitoes and midgies.

When they were both fully infilled and turned into park space, the insect populations disappeared, as did many of Edinburgh's more common diseases, such as cholera and typhoid.

 

[arctic hobo]

Thanks for the advice folks. I think I may go for a multi prong defence
How come they have mosquitos in Norway at -30, yet we don't get them here and we're an awful lot warmer? Is it just *too* wet? I know historically there were mosquitos in Edinburgh, etc., but why not now? maybe the midgies just outbred them

Cheers,
Toddy

I don't know the difference to be honest!
I'm fairly sure the Norwegian ones were mosquitoes though. In May when all the snow melts on the plateaux there are thousands upon thousands breeding. Think of it - 14,000 sq km of sodden ground/marsh to breed in, it produces pretty stunning numbers of the things. One man was able to point out to me clouds of them out of an aeroplane

 

[Toddy]

I don't know the difference to be honest!
I'm fairly sure the Norwegian ones were mosquitoes though. In May when all the snow melts on the plateaux there are thousands upon thousands breeding. Think of it - 14,000 sq km of sodden ground/marsh to breed in, it produces pretty stunning numbers of the things. One man was able to point out to me clouds of them out of an aeroplane

And you *still* went there You're a braver man than me, Gunga Din!

Probably why they have so many birds migrating there for the spring. It's my idea of hell, to be honest. Insect bites are a misery. If this global warming keeps up I'm going to have to find me somewhere cold and windy

I tried the almond essence at the back door and we've only had one wasp come in today I don't usually keep citronella, not awfully fond of the acrid smell, and I use Myrica Gale instead, but I do have a couple of bowl candles of it somewhere that I might try if it's dry tomorrow; see if that works too.

I forgot about all of the Lochs in Edinburgh, Match. I reckon that *would* make a difference to the breeding grounds for all sorts of buggits. There was a great silver hoard found in one of them too, iircc.

Thanks again folks,
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[PatrickM]

I must sympathise with your wasp sting Toddy as I received 9 of them all within the space of a minute. While I was cutting some hazel my dog disturbed a byke and out they came and off I ran like Steve Ovett...... Very painful.

As for the mosquitos I'm unhappy to report that they are indeed alive and biting in South Lanarkshire, though this year was not as bad as last. They started to disappear about a month ago, although I did manage to get bitten 2 weeks back.
Since being bitten by a nasty African strain a few years ago, I am very allergic to mosquito bites and have to carry backup antibiotics and anti-histamines in my kit bag for emergencies.

 

[Toddy]

I must sympathise with your wasp sting Toddy as I received 9 of them all within the space of a minute. While I was cutting some hazel my dog disturbed a byke and out they came and off I ran like Steve Ovett...... Very painful.

As for the mosquitos I'm unhappy to report that they are indeed alive and biting in South Lanarkshire, though this year was not as bad as last. They started to disappear about a month ago, although I did manage to get bitten 2 weeks back.
Since being bitten by a nasty African strain a few years ago, I am very allergic to mosquito bites and have to carry backup antibiotics and anti-histamines in my kit bag for emergencies.

I got very painfully bitten by *something* up past Biggar a few years ago that left me with really bad scars on my scalp. The site we were geophys-ing was a sunken henge that stays flooded in it's centre all year round (historically it's been used as a curling pond for a couple of hundred years, at least) I never gave it a thought that these might have been mosquitos, I thought it was some kind of cleg.
You have my sympathy on the anti-histamines and antibiotics...me too *so* no' funny I carry anti inflammatories as well, they really do help

I've got an anti-midge ointment recipe that seems to work (wish I'd remembered it for Loch Achray! I was ill by the time I got home)

Two handfuls of bog myrtle leaves, roughly crushed. Cover them in almond oil...or something similar, heat gently and allow to sit warm (a sunny windowsill or on top of a radiator works well) The leaves will infuse the oil with their scent, etc., squeeze and remove leaves, repeat with fresh leaves if it seems a bit insipid looking/smelling.
Do the same with meadowsweet flowers, and with melissa too
When happy with the strength of the oil add some melted beeswax and stir with the oil until just about set. 1:4 ratio usually works fine for wax to oil. Pour into tiny tubs and apply as necessary.
The old receipt actually uses boars fat and mugwort too.
Doesn't seem to discourage wasps though

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[led]

Thanks for the recipe Toddy, I'll be sure to try that next midge season!