Taming the lions and tigers can be good for your garden
By LaVERLE McCANDLESS
Contributor
What are the “lions and tigers” of the garden?
Why do some insects have a bad image when they really should not? We all know that honey bees are good; after all the work they do for all of us by pollenating the flowers, they also make the honey that we all enjoy. This is all good, right? You bet.
How many people do you know go bonkers when they see a honey bee, a wasp, a yellow jacket or even a bumble bee? Some of us are highly allergic to stings and that part can be scary. Getting stung is not a pleasant experience, so how does one go about watching all the insects as they gather pollen and nectar to take back to their hive or nests?
Don't use any scented soap and try not to wear any perfume or pastel colors as the color draws in the nectar-hunting insects. Also, don't make sudden movement around the gatherers so you don't startle them.
When a gatherer gets close to your body or face, the natural instinct is to swat at the insect. Bad thing to do: it is a sudden movement and the insect immediately thinks it is being “hunted” and may turn on you.
The best and the hardest thing to do is to stand really still and hug yourself to keep from flinging your arms and hands about swatting at the insect, especially the bees and other nectar and pollen gatherers. Hugging yourself, move very slowly back from the area the insects are working, walk slowly away from the area and let them calm down while you are calming down too.
If you have a paper wasp nest or yellow jacket nest above or below ground, the best thing is to call in a professional to get rid of the nest. If these nests are not in an area that is not bothering you or anyone, then just stay away. These wasps, yellow jackets and other stinging gatherers are not only pollinators of the flowers they are visiting—whether they are your prized blooms or the flowers in the vegetable garden—they are also a beneficial insect. You would be surprised at how many bad insects wasps and yellow jackets eat on their way to and from the flowers.
How many of you have seen the little gray dangly nest that is the paper wasp nest? You have also seen the same type nest of the yellow jacket, right? You all know what a yellow jacket looks like but do you know what the paper wasp looks like? Most of the round nests around buildings we see in our area are the yellow jackets home.
What is fun is to find the paper wasp's nest and watch the workers go to a piece of wood, especially untreated board fences, chew on it, fly back to the nest and start building the paper-thin layer. The paper wasp is about one inch long, dark brown or almost black and is the least likely to sting a person unless their nest is threatened.
Never take a stick and poke it in the hole of the nest or try to knock it down. Would you like to have someone try to bulldoze your home while you are in it? You would defend your territory, right? Their sting is very painful and will sting more than once, unlike the honey bee, who dies defending her territory.
Paper wasps are real hunters, not only gathering nectar and pollen but also feeding their young bits and pieces of tobacco horn worms, cabbage worms and gypsy moth caterpillars. This is why the paper wasp is called the lion and tiger of the garden.
You can attract them by making them a nest box—like you would a six-inch square bird house but leave the bottom off and no hole in front. The paper wasps would like to have it painted black as they like a warm place to set up housekeeping. Wire the boxes to stakes and stick the stakes in a quiet sunny area. Their favorite flowers are goldenrod, daisies, coneflowers and sunflowers. I have seen them on till too.
Don't forget the water: a dish with pebbles in it so they have a landing place while they are sipping water surrounded by the flowers. They will feast on your bad bugs while preying on the nasty critters that eat on your precious plants.
Comments and questions should be directed to LaVerle at (509) 455-7568 or [email protected].
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