Asklemmy

I really haven't had an issue with them. I've been stung a few times, but usually I know what I did wrong. Once or twice my dogs made them mad and they ended up going for me.

I used to have this storage shed that was full of wasp nests. I don't mean just a few small nests, the wall was literally covered with wasps. I could go in there to fetch something and as long as I moved slowly they didn't seem to care. (Though I did try to avoid the day time and visit them when it was pretty cool and they were torpid.) Never even had a close call with those wasps.

Rather rude to group them all together like that. If we're talking mud daubers or paper wasps, we're totally chill.

Ground-nesting yellowjackets get the boiling water and dish soap treatment in the dead of the night if they're in the yard. I've had too many cases of cleaning up yard debris and suddenly getting attacked by the little bastards to attempt peaceful coexistence.

I removed a small nest from my door frame a few months ago and one larva fell out. It landed on the hot concrete in the summer sun. I empathized and picked it up. I kept it in a jar with a paper towel under a lamp. I checked on it everyday and I thought that someday I'd set it free in my yard. I even daydreamed that it would immediately sting me when I let it go and that just made me laugh a bit. It eventually died and I put it on my bird feeder. I didn't watch and ai felt sad but it's gone now.

The species I'm familiar with, Polistes dominula, is cool: they hang out around noon looking for water sometimes, I splash some and they oblige. Sometimes they hang out where I'm doing stuff and they're calm and move if I gently shove them. They complain a bit when I trim leaves where they happen to be chilling, but fly away. Never stung. They are surprisingly polite and aware of you, plus they eat some pests and polinate stuff. Some other species are assholes, though :/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_paper_wasp

There are thousands of species, and almost all are either critical pollinators or predators on other insects, including mosquitoes and other flies. Only a few species are known to sting people when threatened, but they're some of the biggest and most visible wasps, so they're what people think about

Beautiful insects with some fascinating behaviour. Just don't disturb them and you are fine

hate those little fuckers

They escaped from hell to fuck with our outdoor meals.

We talking hornets too? Fucking fuck the bald face shit heads.

Meh. All of New England is Meh.

I think you mean "assholes with wings."

Ok until they have to fly into my ear

They give me the hair raising creeps but I leave them alone unless they invade my house.

"AAAAHHH! FUCK!"