The Decision – an Experiment in Coexistence….

Carmen actually saw them first. Cathy was at the barn cleaning stalls and Carmen was barking like crazy. And kept barking like crazy. That’s usually the sign of a snake, or some other animal that she has cornered or is unsure about. So Cath went outside the barn to see what was causing the commotion. But Carmen wasn’t looking down at the ground, she was looking up. Cathy followed Carmen’s gaze upward, and then she saw it. The wasp nest was at the top of the barn, about 16 feet off the ground, and anchored between two barn lights. Maybe a foot wide, by a foot deep, by a foot and a half high. And while maybe not a freeway, there was county road of wasps flying in and out of the hive.

Cath told me about it that night and I took a look. At home, we have about a half can of sure-shot 20 foot hornet spray, which is not enough in my opinion. So I took a couple of pictures, and figured I’d go to the store the next day, get a couple more cans, and do the job the next night.

Of course, me being me, I posted one of the photos on Facebook, and the comments came pouring in. “Yikes!” was probably the most popular comment. After that, there many helpful comments about how to destroy the nest – Call the pros…. Hit it with a stick and then run….Multiple suggestions on spraying, and doing it at night, when all the wasps were in the nest….And there were a surprisingly large number of people suggesting fire as the solution: use a flamethrower; squirt lighter fluid on it and strike a match; tie a rag to a stick, soak it in gasoline, and use it to torch the hive; use a drone with a mini flamethrower on it (do those exist?!?!)…. Now, I’m not against fire in general, but the nest IS attached to the barn, and I know how my luck would go on something like this.

And finally, there were a few folk (our sisters Roberta and Bonnie, an old Boy Scout friend, now photographer, Bryan, and our good friend Cory), who all said versions of “Is it bothering anyone? If not, just leave it there until the first hard frost, the wasps will die, and you can take it down then.” Bryan and Roberta even posted pictures of old wasp nests hanging in their houses. Cory, who is a crazy good artist, wants the nest so she can make paper out of it. WHAT?!? ARE YOU ALL CRAZY – DON’T DO ANYTHING?!?! And then I thought “hmmmmm” and went on line to do some research.

It turns out that wasps generally don’t bother people, unless their hive is being threatened. And they do some good things. They actually kill and eat many common garden pests, including predatory insects, caterpillars, tomato worms and flies. They are decent pollinators. Not as good as bees (something about leg size), but pretty good. AND, it turns out they carry and store yeasts. Yep, it turns out they can have a positive impact on bread, wine, and beer.

So, the whole yeast thing finally put me over the top and helped me make my decision. We are going to try an experiment in coexistence. If the wasps can leave us and the horses alone, I’m ok with them hanging out, helping us reduce pests in the garden, and doing their yeast thing. Their flight path needs to stay up there, and maybe we can make this whole thing work.

And Cory – you can have the nest sometime in October or November…