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Milly Jones
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« Reply #5490 on: 10:21:44, 12-04-2008 » |
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I don't like wasps but (I'm probably going to regret saying this during the summer) so far I've never been stung. That's perhaps because I race off as fast as my little legs can carry me....if they're in the house I just open the window, leave the room, shut the door and hope they have the sense to bugler off. They always do.
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richard barrett
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« Reply #5491 on: 10:26:57, 12-04-2008 » |
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 But Mary, I just wanted a cuddle. |
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #5492 on: 10:35:47, 12-04-2008 » |
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Richard  . Milly - you've never been stung in your whole life? How very clever of you. As a child I was stung at least once a year, usually outdoors - I was forever putting my hand on them on fences, and that sort of carelessness. Even recently I have trodden on one, in bare feet. I DON'T LIKE WASPS AT ALL! |
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Milly Jones
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« Reply #5493 on: 10:44:19, 12-04-2008 » |
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Nope. Never. Not by a bee either. Mosquitoes don't bite - when we went to Thailand and Hong Kong I was never bitten by anything, nor here in the summer - midges and the like. I think it is possibly because I use a lot of lemongrass. I always put drops in the bath and on the shower sponge and add it to food - curries etc. It's a natural insect-repellant - they hate it! I don't know why, it's baffling. It's a lovely lemon smell. You could fragrance your house or add it to a candle or something on the window sill which would stop them coming in. The Thais always put it in their food and of course then it comes out of the pores of your skin - like garlic can if you use enough. What is most baffling is that "melissa" which to me is an indistinguishable lemon scent from lemongrass - actually attracts insects, especially bees! How weird is that? They must be able to smell something else about it that we (or I) can't.  I don't like wasps because they're not useful in the way that bees are, but they are part of the food chain so I suppose they're necessary.  P.S. If you put a few drops on a cloth and wipe your light bulbs or bedside light bulbs with it, when the bulb heats up, that fragrances the room too and stops everything (except moths) from buzzing round the lights. Moths just have a death wish! |
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« Last Edit: 10:48:27, 12-04-2008 by Milly Jones »
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Morticia
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« Reply #5494 on: 10:49:38, 12-04-2008 » |
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Even recently I have trodden on one, in bare feet.
 Horrible, horrible, horrible!! Oh yuck! |
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richard barrett
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« Reply #5495 on: 10:50:41, 12-04-2008 » |
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On the subject of wasps in the food chain, I hope everyone has a copy of this greatly entertaining and indeed enlightening book:  |
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Milly Jones
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« Reply #5496 on: 10:52:18, 12-04-2008 » |
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That came free a while back with New Scientist magazine. I wonder where I've put it....
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Antheil
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« Reply #5498 on: 11:05:29, 12-04-2008 » |
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From an article in The Indy re the New Scientist book of what eats wasps: "Invertebrates: several species of dragonflies (Odonata); robber and hoverflies (Diptera); wasps (Hymenoptera), usually the larger species feeding on smaller species, such as social paper wasps (Vespula maculata) eating V utahensis; beetles (Coleoptera); and moths (Lepidoptera). The following are vertebrates that feed on wasps: numerous species of birds, skunks, bears, badgers, bats, weasels, wolverines, rats, mice" Badgers?  |
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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George Garnett
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« Reply #5499 on: 11:11:10, 12-04-2008 » |
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 [Sorry. But having found it ... ] |
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Jonathan
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« Reply #5500 on: 11:47:11, 12-04-2008 » |
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I'm not keen on wasps either. I think it derives from being in a classroom when I was small and there being 9 of the swines in the room and no escape as i was at school!
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Best regards,
Jonathan
*********************************************
"as the housefly of destiny collides with the windscreen of fate..."
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #5501 on: 11:55:44, 12-04-2008 » |
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Nope. Never. Not by a bee either. Mosquitoes don't bite - when we went to Thailand and Hong Kong I was never bitten by anything, nor here in the summer - midges and the like.
I am envious. I spent my childhood being stung, bitten, falling into nettles* etc. We had family holidays in the West of Scotland which were essentially feeding frenzies for the midges (I love the place and go back as often as I can, but always outside the midge season). Unfortunately, my role as the paterfamilias of the household means that I am called upon to remove wasps, bees and, especially spiders. Strange banshee wailings at the dead of night near the South Downs are nothing supernatural - merely an indication that my wife and daughter have discovered a visiting spider in the bath .... I don't mind them, but you should hear the fuss in this house when one appears. *falling into ditches, ponds, puddles, tripping over rocks and stumps, putting feet down rabbit holes, tripping on the kerb, being chased by cows and on one occasion sheep, etc. I was one of those children to whom things happened ... |
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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Milly Jones
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« Reply #5502 on: 12:04:03, 12-04-2008 » |
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I've been stung by nettles a lot. Always been a great walker in the countryside and have a small section of my garden as a "wildlife" bit. That's full of nettles and they get me every time I walk past. I have some dock leaves specially for the purpose that I nicked from the woods. (  ) Not scared of spiders, any insects (other than wasps), nor mice, snakes....I can happily pick spiders up just in my hands and put them outside if anyone who visits here is bothered. I've trained the child not to be frightened of any of these other things, as my father taught me, but obviously failed miserably with the wasp issue. Grump. I asked him what he'd like to do today and usually he always says "go to football" on a Saturday, but there's a new play place for children opened up locally - you know the sort - loads of climbing stuff and big slides - full of screaming kids echoing around the building which is like a large aircraft hangar :-(. That's where he wants to go. Wish I hadn't asked him now. :-( We went there last week and he had a wonderful time but I had to endure all that noise! Oh well serves me right. Better get it over with.  |
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richard barrett
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« Reply #5503 on: 12:12:40, 12-04-2008 » |
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If God had meant us to go to indoor playgrounds with our children he would have given us iPods! oh! he did!  |
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Milly Jones
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« Reply #5504 on: 16:52:22, 12-04-2008 » |
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If God had meant us to go to indoor playgrounds with our children he would have given us iPods! oh! he did! I think I must be the only person in the whole world without an iPod. They just don't appeal to me. I see people walking around with them stuck in their ears and with faraway expressions and don't feel envious at all as a rule. Today, however, an iPod would have been a GOOD THING. Fortunately I met some friends in there who invited me on to their table and we all had lunch and shouted at each other to make ourselves heard. The kids had a whale of a time so that was great. Not cheap though by the time you add up entrance fee, drinks and food. Ok if you have only one child like me but a family with three or four children, say, would find it very expensive indeed for just two hours play, plus food and drinks. You're not allowed to take your own of course. |
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