Hornets

[mycroftt]

If you have mud dauber wasps don't wipe them out unless they are in a place that really makes them a nuisance. They are not aggressive and rarely bite - although I got bit by one this year. I didn't see it on the ladder when I picked it up and I must have trapped it under my hand because I was thinking "Damn this ladder is hot" then Ouch it got much hotter still. Got me twice right at the base of my thumb - ran it under cold water for a few minutes and only had a couple of minor swellings, but it was itchy the next day.

I went on an all-out search and destroy mission against them a couple of years ago because they seemed to be everywhere. I had the black and yellows and the blues in my shed. I killed them all. Guess what happened. I had a bumper crop of black widow spiders - mostly in my shed. There were so many that I had to clear the webs with a stick just to get in my shed and I had to be careful handling anything in there so I didn't grab a spider along with the tool. Turns out blue mud daubers prey primarily on black widows - now I let them be and only see a few black widows around.

 

[555]

If you have mud dauber wasps don't wipe them out unless they are in a place that really makes them a nuisance. They are not aggressive and rarely bite - although I got bit by one this year. I didn't see it on the ladder when I picked it up and I must have trapped it under my hand because I was thinking "Damn this ladder is hot" then Ouch it got much hotter still. Got me twice right at the base of my thumb - ran it under cold water for a few minutes and only had a couple of minor swellings, but it was itchy the next day.

I went on an all-out search and destroy mission against them a couple of years ago because they seemed to be everywhere. I had the black and yellows and the blues in my shed. I killed them all. Guess what happened. I had a bumper crop of black widow spiders - mostly in my shed. There were so many that I had to clear the webs with a stick just to get in my shed and I had to be careful handling anything in there so I didn't grab a spider along with the tool. Turns out blue mud daubers prey primarily on black widows - now I let them be and only see a few black widows around.

If I had a choice I'd take the Wasp over the black widows any day.

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

If you have mud dauber wasps don't wipe them out unless they are in a place that really makes them a nuisance. They are not aggressive and rarely bite - although I got bit by one this year. I didn't see it on the ladder when I picked it up and I must have trapped it under my hand because I was thinking "Damn this ladder is hot" then Ouch it got much hotter still. Got me twice right at the base of my thumb - ran it under cold water for a few minutes and only had a couple of minor swellings, but it was itchy the next day.

I went on an all-out search and destroy mission against them a couple of years ago because they seemed to be everywhere. I had the black and yellows and the blues in my shed. I killed them all. Guess what happened. I had a bumper crop of black widow spiders - mostly in my shed. There were so many that I had to clear the webs with a stick just to get in my shed and I had to be careful handling anything in there so I didn't grab a spider along with the tool. Turns out blue mud daubers prey primarily on black widows - now I let them be and only see a few black widows around.

That's good to know! I never bother mud daubers unless I just have to knock down a nest or the like. We have black widows around, I have to keep and eye out for them all the time. Hate to think how many more we'd have without the mud daubers.

Andy

 

[Fiddleback]

I've always been tought to leave dirt daubers alone. They've never stung me either.

 

[shecky]

Around here, I usually get rid of the nests by smoking out the wasps first. With a snoot full of smoke, they zip away long enough to scrape off the nest. After a few minutes they come back looking for the nest, but usually seem perplexed and move on by the next day.