Worried about the bees

Phytophotodermatitis. Eeek!! Well, at least they have a good name for it. But I'm with you - how on earth could you avoid that?

Julie, I became aware of all the things that contain hazelnuts through my friend. It used to be (I don't know if it is now) that better bakery flours contained ground hazelnuts. Who would have thought?

I love that we're now using service dogs for kids with severe peanut allergies. They can prescreen all foods and warn their kids. I can't imagine how scary it would be to be an adult in charge of a kid with that sensitivity.

I have an allergy to raw tomatoes off and on, thought it's mostly off any more. And too many strawberries at one time can trigger a reaction in me, too.

GG, I'd never heard of the pine nut problem. I wonder if it's one of those cases in which there's a fungus on the pine nuts that actually triggers the allergy. Isn't that part of the problem with peanuts?

Kathy, I think that there is a variety of pine nuts being shipped out of China - although some come from Turkey but may be Chinese in origin - that seems to cause that reaction in some people. I have read that analysis of the different pine nuts - those that cause the reaction and those that don't - failed to find any chemical or other substance that would account for an effect after ingestion. But I'm not sure how definite those findings were or how rigorous the study was. There's a website out of the UK that requests that people who have experienced this should contact some government agency so that they can get more information. I noticed on Huffington Post that NPR apparently did a piece on it, too, but most doctors haven't heard of it.

Wow. Thanks for the details. I'll definitely take that into account!

OK Julie I am sorry for your allergy to wasps. But I have to again defend my friends of the garden. Wasps eat more aphids than any creature alive during the nesting and feeding of the early larvae. No lady bug ever ate 1/10 of a wasps voracious appetite. This year my wasps have emerged late and the aphid colonies have been horrible. I have actually had to spray water on many plants that before were untouched. Mostly the ones to worry about are the ones near your doors and those I move up to my second story with a garbage bag and hang it there with a fish net. They seem to accept that penthouse without worry. After removing the plastic and running like he**.
We have had over 10 to 30 nests without any problems for over 8 years after I watched a parasitised bush swarming with wasps eating the aphids. Late in September they get hungry for meat and fruit so that is when a couple of stings get us. But no biggie with me. Karen just sprays benadryl and uses ice and I care for her as any good husband should. LOL
This is not aphids but need to get one of them at work with them.

They just have to do some serious work on their temperaments!

I had tons of honey bees in my borage yesterday. Busy little creatures.

I have also noticed wasp-types searching for aphids this year. They also love it when the termites swarm. When we were building our house the bees and the dog fought over the termites.

They crave insects of any type and feast all day to feed their colonies. Their temperment here in Montana is much mellower than in the busy city. LOL

No road rage to deal with...

Amen
You just have to see them like I do and they leave you alone. LOL

Don't they have the paper wrapping on their nests?

No not the ones we have here. We occasionally have paper wasps but mostly just these what I call yellow jackets. Not the ground ones.

Learn something every day.

I'm concerned about the condo I lived in, specifically the bee and beneficial insect population. Currently my home is surrounded by flowering plants and shrubs. Usually every plant around my house and around the condos I live in are loaded with bees.

This spring I did notice less bees than last year and some were acting unusual. Unlike last year where they were flying past me, these seem to be flying AT me when I got too close to the flowers.

Now that it's summer and many more plants around here are flowering I'm noticing there are way less bees than in spring. Unfortunately I think it's because in spring, for the first time in years, the condo hired people to spray the bushes.

I'm noticing less bees and more bad bugs than previous years. :(

How come it is so easy for me to envision you relocating yellowjackets Steve? I never really paid attention to the fact that they eat harmful bugs. Anything that eats aphids and termites is OK by me.... I will just be content to try to stay well out of their way!

Tikipod, It would be a shame (but not a surprise) if the spraying of the bushes at your condo had something to do with your lack of bees. :(

Spraying definitely affects bees and other insects. Tikipod, you might want to let the condo management people know.

I would suspect the condo management people wouldn't care, but it's always worth a try.

I will definitely be letting them know. I was working on a letter in winter with some suggests for natural pest control but I had problems constructing the letter/list. The board members are older than me and have more experience than I. I worry they won't take me serious.

I have another worry too. I've been around these condos since the 80's and in the last 10 years we've developed a leafhopper infestation, specifically the Rhododendron Leafhopper. Since the condo hasn't sprayed in years I hung up some mantis cocoons in spring. I haven't seen any of them :(

My chickens sit on plants and 'pop' them with their beaks and anything that moves is dinner. I love chickens for my antiparasite control. Oh yeah and I love the constant conversation they give to you when you are with them in the garden. They are constantly asking questions on we can give them so much food and still stay fat ourselves. LOL

tikipod- I have used mantids for pest control before and found that they really are so well camouflaged when they are young they are hard to spot.....but around late August and September when they are more mature and very large you will see them.

I hope so Azorina. I'd be heart broken if they were effected by the spraying.

I need to recruit someone to help me with the letter. Thankfully one other resident is starting to notice the difference this year and the lack of bees. Introducing beneficial bugs and adding plants to attract more really is the best way.

Interesting article on using wasps for pest control

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/world/asia/19thai.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

I am having aphid trouble on several plants so I sent my wife out with a liquid insecticide sprayer armed with dawn soap on the heat of the day I will let you know the results. I know the flowers around will love it. Phosphorous is good for them.

I posted on this thread and now I can't find it. I was talking about having wasps in my greenhouse and how I don't have an aphid problem. I have seen them scraping the leaves of plants and I think it's to get every last tiny aphid. I took pictures of the nests so I want to share.

Not sure what the white things are. Eggs maybe?

Here are some more outside the GH and protected by the sheet of poly carb and up against the wood.

We'll having lots of wasps and no aphids. LOL

Looks like my nest except mine had a paper "cover" around the outside. Mine had grown to basketball size!

I have never seen those nests without the paper wrapping.

Yes the ones without paper nest wrapping are aggressive aphid eaters and the ones with the paper wrappings eat aphids but if near your door or active area are agressive. So I take the paper guys with a plastic bag and move them to a non traveled area and hang them in a net. This keeps them from attacking me when I move away or through them. The ones you have photographed Bee are the ones I try to encourage. They are quite friendly.

Yes, thank you for the info, Soferdig. I have never been stung by these wasps and we co-exist very nicely in the greenhouse and out in the garden. I think they only live in their houses (nests) for one year, because I have had other smaller nests in different spots around here
but the next year it is an empty shell. They seem to need protection from the elements, too.
Last year they made a nest under a little wooden table I had on the porch. This year they discovered the greenhouse big time. In summer I leave both doors open for ventilation. I get kind of excited about the insect world, actually. Maybe you can tell.....LOL

One more thing--Do wasps pollinate? Does anyone know?

I rode in someone's car yesterday. She had one on the inside of the door, right where you shut it! She said she had removed two from the inside of the back hatch last weekend.

No wasps do not pollinate because they are not nectar eaters. They do get a sweet tooth late in the summer but eat fruit primarily. Apples and berries. They feed off leaf surfaces and other vegtable/meat surfaces.

Gwendalou---Wonder if they made a nest inside the car or trunk someplace?

These were each individual nests!

Oh Soferdig, I've seen some of those paperless nests around here and their residents. If they are eating the aphids then they are certainly welcomed around here!

Ahh at least one convert. We repbulican "greenies" have to work hard to save the planet. Poor wasps have to hide their nests in cars to keep their species alive. I need to write a Shrek like movie about wasps. Lets see Hmmmmmm..A fuzzy wasp with a name like "Ruthie".

And she loved to eat aphids with her little toothie.

Very cute, beebonnet!
My bees and wasps are both down this year. I have some bumblebees and some honeybees, but I have nowhere near the populations of either that I am accustomed to. I miss the buzzing of the busy garden. I wonder where they are?