Did you know that wasps aren't great pollinators?

True, when the queen emerges from winter hibernation - a state of diapause - she immediately feeds on nectar, before stripping wood to make a pulp from which she constructs the first cells for her nest.

She also feeds her first brood of newly-hatched larvae on nectar until they metamorphise into adult workers. From then on, she is only tasked with laying more eggs to create more workers until early autumn. That's the time she only produces virgin queens and fertile male drones. They leave the nest in late autumn to mate with wasps from other colonies. The new queens then hibernate and the male drones die.

A new cycle with new queens & new colonies begins the following spring.

So wasps may not be steady pollinators but they are still the gardener's friend, because - or so I discovered - they are responsible for killing 14 million kilograms of insect prey!

How come?

Well, workers feed aphids and grubs to the wasp larvae. And in return the larvae produce a sugary secretion - chitin - that the workers digest as a reward. A sort of supply & demand situation.

Scientists have discovered that wasps from other colonies are also allowed to feed the grubs, fulfilling a jobbing worker role, I suppose.

Workers also help to build new cells for the enlarging nest. They adapt its shape to fit the available space and spray it with water if the temperature gets too high. Fascinating stuff!

Another interesting fact is that the average human will get stung approximately 5 times in their lifetime.

How unlucky it must be to get stung 3 times in 6 weeks then eh?

The wee buzzers.

Rest assured, it IS possible. It happened to me! All on my left side - although that has probably no significance.

First time: On my left shoulder when I was reading a book. I was at a really exciting bit. So I just flicked a spider away that was crawling under my hair - or so I thought - when I felt jabby-jabby and a splinter of a sting. I blathered it with cider vinegar. Over the next 24 hours, an egg-sized swelling appeared on my shoulder. It was constantly itchy & hot, and seriously interfered with me relaxing back into my novel (Book 4 in the Seeker series by S G Maclean).

I put it down to bad luck. After all, it was only my second sting ever.

Very first time: 30 years ago, I grabbed my gardening gloves from the shed, to do some early spring weeding. As I pushed my fingers in, I felt multiple jabby-jabbies. A queen was overwintering inside them. Probably all cosy, with her delicate wings tucked under her body, but she woke up fighting hard! That's when I discovered I was allergic to all brands of antihistimines. I had to resort to my first aid kit of paracetemol & whisky. A hot toddy has helped with many an illness over the years!

Second time recently (third time ever): 2 weeks after the shoulder sting, one morning, while waiting for the toaster to pop, I had grabbed the dishcloth to wipe down the worktop, not realising a wasp had sneaked into it overnight, when next jabby-jabby jabby-jabby jabby-jabby I had been stung multiple times between my fingers.

That is SO the worst place!

I don't know what was worse: (1) the constant itch which kept me awake all night, or (2) the sight of it -

my hand looked like a blown-up Marigold glove!

Luckily, it was my left hand 'cos it was useless for 3 days. I was effectively one-handed. I couldn't drive. I couldn't do much at all. I could moan though - so I did that to anyone who'd listen.

Hebe-the-dog kept her head under the blankets.

After that, all windows and vents were closed - sunny day or not - and no more meals were taken al fresco.

Third time recently (fourth time ever): I got stung on my left knee. I don't know how it happened. I just felt the jabby-jabby. I knew the drill, so it was cider vinegar, followed by a quick dash in the car to the supermarket for supplies, before the inevitable swelling stopped all movement!

My knee returned to normal three days later.

Maybe I should have mentioned that I have a wasp's nest in the eaves of my cottage? I observe all the comings and goings from my upstairs window.

They are busy wee buzzers.

I could have got someone to remove them. But who am I to interfere with nature and such busyness?

But I'm still hoping that their season is coming to an end. And that the nest will soon be vacated.

I don't think they return to the same nest? Must check on that.

So bye bye ye wee buzzers.

Go and bother someone else next year!