A wonderfully informative article Sharon.

So very informative!!! Thank you!!!

Those pictures give me the heebie-jeebies... I'm just sayin' ....

Well, except the first 2-3 -- I like the bees, but once you hit wasps, yellow-jackts & hornets, I was wishing I could hide the pics.

Just as a side note..... I was reading about Summer Tanagers the other day & they eat, almost exclusively, bees & wasps. They remove the stinger before eating them. Pretty interesting. They must be fairly deft to do that too.

Deft and smart, too, I'd say. Sounds a little like gathering cactus for dinner. Brave Tanagers!!!

Thanks ladies! Sorry Mary, just close your eyes when you get to the pictures.

it was a great article (as usual) Sharon... I'm just a wimp on those flying stingers

Thank you Sharon, for all the info.

I've felt the wrong end of a wasp a couple times

Love all the detailed photo's and info

Great article, Sharon.

Yellow jackets are my personal nemesis. It seems like about once a year I have to stumble upon one of their ground nests and get 2 or 3 stings for my trouble. Ouch!

Flying Stingers. I love it! We've had a bumper crop of all of the above this year; it's made trying to garden nearly impossible. But most of the hoards of tiny grasshoppers that I noticed in late spring seem to have disappeared. So maybe they're not ALL bad.

And what's really weird is that I never get mosquito bites; I can be in a swarm of them and they separate then fly away from me. But those little things that sting in self defense, they'll get me every time.

I'm glad if the article is helpful; I realize now that I should have included pictures of their individual nests, though some nests are hard to find -- particularly those of the yellow jackets @dave. Around here, most of them are underground.

Thanks!

Interesting and informative article,

The Yellow Jackets are the only ones I'm skittish around. We seem to always have them wintering over in our covered boat. The sting is bad enough, but it lingers all day.

Good information and great article, as usual!

Thanks!. I really prefer the flying thing in your avatar to those in the article, J.

Here too, Sandi. When we boated and then summerized in early spring, yellowjackets came out from the boat in droves. A welcoming committee, I think.

We welcome them to spring now by beating on the boat cover. When they fly out, we offer them a shot of wasp spray.

Sharon, what a fabulously done article. And I just love the title and the background story.

Thanks Rita!

You did it again! Great article, informative with word pictures that made it all come alive.

Thanks Susie!

Sharon said:And what's really weird is that I never get mosquito bites; I can be in a swarm of them and they separate then fly away from me. But those little things that sting in self defense, they'll get me every time.

I'm glad if the article is helpful; I realize now that I should have included pictures of their individual nests, though some nests are hard to find -- particularly those of the yellow jackets @dave. Around here, most of them are underground.

Thanks!

You must not type O blood. I've heard and read that the mosquitos bite people the most with type O blood and that's my blood type!