Just goes to show that there’s always something else to worry about.
This little “paper wasp” two-strip arc was going in a completely different direction, but you BOTreaders leaned so heavily on the “Destroy all wasps!” side, that I began to wonder if my pro-wasp stance was in error, and thus, this strip was born. I’ll be going over to my parents’ house tomorrow, so I’ll let you know if any Wasp Bustin’ takes place.
I found you accidentally, and I got to tell you this is now my favorite web comic.
big thanks for the kind words, SewDucky! i’m happy for whatever accident brought you here!
and check you out: by leaving the first comment, you just achieved the Shades of Firsting! wear them well – these also double as a sleep mask for your eyes, during those times of troubled slumber:
😎
And the Asteroids pajamas are back. He’ll need them; it does not look like bot will be getting a lot of sleep soon. Confounded moral quandaries…
ha! i was wondering how long it would be before someone noticed bot wearing his Asteroids pajamas, Striker – and i think you just set the record! 😀
Meh, cover it with a paper cup while wearing thick clothes and a face mask. Slip in a sturdy paper top, and then remove to a place in the woods after fixing a string to the bottom of the cup. Place the cup, upside down, after taping one side of the sturdy paper top to the cup, let out enough string to get to a safe distance, pull string, run.
Oooo. You’re GOOD.
good advice, Bl4ckw0lf – i was all set to do something like this last night but i just couldn’t get all the elements to work right. i did end up getting the wasp nest down without injury, though, so: WOO!
Well, ninja’d by Bl4ckw0lf, at least partly…. But what I had already typed:
Is there any possibility of moving the nest? Would there be a bee-keepers outfit you could borrow to do it without getting stung? If it didn’t work, well as least you would know you had tried. (And the adult wasps should be able to start another nest somewhere else.) Also, I wonder if a ‘smoker’ would work on paper wasps? “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_keeping#Smoker”
i wish i had access to a beekeeper’s outfit, Stonefoot! as it was, last night i just borrowed a heavy coat from my parents, buttoned my shirt all the way up, and hoped for the best! i did end up victorious, with as little harm to the queen wasp and her worker as possible. i’ll try and update the blog with the details soon.
You could do what I did to get rid of some from my mom’s house: “Discourage” it/them from staying by spraying the nest repeatedly — about twice a day — with a high-pressure stream of water. After about a week, the wasp(s) got the message and abandoned the nest.
i ended up doing something exactly like this, reynard61!
I wouldn’t really worry about hospitalization, unless someone’s allergic. Of course, finding out the hard way is NEVER a good idea. Anaphylactic shock is VERY OF THE BAD!
I’m sure if there are enough wasps, they can hospitalize or even kill any lone person. Have you ever seen what a swarm of army ants can do to animals the size of horses?
true that, Rainey! fortunately, the nest hadn’t gotten very big, so it was just the queen and a minion protecting the nest.
Actually I have. My brother fell into a nest when we were younger in our Grandmother’s backyard. He went to the hospital, where they gave him antihistamines. They may have given him other things, I don’t remember, but he was fine eventually. If it had been me, I might have died on the way to the hospital. I’m that allergic, or I was. I’ve gotten stings in recent years and haven’t needed anything more than an OTC antihistamine. But that could change. I was asthmatic as a kid, and now have chronic bronchitis… but that’s getting way off-topic. Sorry for ranting.
a serious allergic reaction is exactly what i was afraid of, KB! i don’t know how long it has been since anybody in my family has been stung by a wasp, so any or all of us could’ve been at risk.
At least thou cares.
thou speaketh most truly, ShadowShuffler.
i hate paperwasp……kill them all…sting hurts like hell, and can even cause ur skin to corrode (if thats even possible)
it’s been so long since i’ve been stung by a bee or wasp that i’ve forgotten what the sting feels like, jf#300! let’s hope i’m not reminded anytime soon…
I still hate wasps but if you don’t want to kill them I’m sure you can somehow capture them, relocate them, then destroy the nest. Not sure how, I wouldn’t try it, maybe you can use your Scrawn powers to do something. Or, just sick the Angry Scarf at them as a distraction.
heh. unfortunately, the Angry Scarf is away at the moment, TPC, but i did want to remove the wasps without killing them. i think i succeeded last night. will post details soon.
Who you gonna call? Wasp Busters!
Sorry….I couldn’t resist.
*clears throat* Morning BOTiverse and all you BOTVilians! I too am not a fan of bugs of any kind, especially the stingy variety!
SAVE THE ELDERBOTS!!!!!
Oh dear…..I seem to have had quite a bit of coffee again this morning. Darn
P.S. I as well as ESQ have started a daily (hopefully) blog! If you’d like to check them out, let us know.
good morning, Pixie! heh. i love it when coffee makes me goofy. 😀
so the elderbots were saved last night as i went over there and got rid of the nest, mostly without harm to the queen and her worker. well, hopefully.
and: YES! i love that you and ESQ have teamed up for some bloggin’! where can i see???
But…’Bot…don’t be sad. Bustin’ is supposed to make you feel GOOD!
i ain’t ‘fraid of no wasp…
actually, yes i am.
And I’m current now!
Seriously, Jefbot, I was telling you the truth in the email I sent last Friday. You’re pretty awesome. I’ve had a lot of fun going through the archive, and I think I’ll stick around. I added you on Psn, and hopefully, you’ll accept!
woo! you get awesome points for going through the entire archive, Kizudarake. hope you stick around while bot embarks on new adventures!
and i’ve been so busy lately i haven’t been on PSN or XBOX Live much, but i’ll definitely accept your request next time i’m on. 🙂
how to humanely get rid of a hornet’s nest? hmmm any of you Botreaders out there know what animal eats wasps if there is such a thing? Me though, I always go with the elemental basics. Like I said, if it tried to attack my mother I kill it with fire. You’re a good soul JB, but there are some things that can’t co-exist with humans, wasps being one of em.
yeah, i’ve learned that your last statement seems to be the case, Jiro Maeda. as Mombot reminded me last night – it probably would’ve been more humane to get rid of the nest right at the beginning instead of letting it grow to the size it did. anyway, lesson learned, and the nest has now been destroyed. (but i was able to keep the queen and her minion alive! woo!)
i’m digging your avatar, btw.
Thanks JB, It’s Phoenix Gundam SD version from the game G Generations. Big Robot Geek that’s me
Here’s a lesson I learned the hard way. Pepper spray does nothing to swarms of wasps. I tried spraying a nest with that near my old bedroom. Needless to say, I got chased away from the nest until I could return with wasp spray.
good to know, Rainey! pepper spray’s probably something i might’ve tried to get rid of them without killing them.
LOL, Pixie, LOL.
Wasp busters…
You know kids at age of 8 to 14 years like to aspire for such a thing. Then again, people called parents make such a fuss about them NOT to get stung and leaving well enough alone, they just loose interest. Too much noise that spoils the fun… At least thats how it was with me every time we found a Wasp nest around.
funny, my parents live in a house right at the foot of a little mountain range, Maryz, so there are a lot of critters crawling and buzzing about, but this is the first wasp nest i can remember that was built on the property. so i really haven’t had to “leave well enough alone” or go WaspBustin’ until now!
I keep picturing ray, Peter, Egon, and Winston busting into a generic church in cape cod with proton packs at the ready, zapping the people worshipping there.
WASP busters.
ha! someone should make a parody film, Kizudarake. 😉
Heh… funny. Nice PJs and I love your look in the last panel O_o
glad you like the PJs, DressesAreStupid! bot’s worn them a couple time before – click on the “pajamas” link in the “tags” below the strip to see ’em. 🙂
Someone may have already suggested this, but call a university Extension office and ask for someone who knows about wasps. They should be able to tell you what to do.
Here is one at UC Davis (not close enough to come help, but they should be able to give you info): http://cekern.ucdavis.edu/Entomology/
I can totally sympathize with your dilemma. The only insects I kill on sight are mosquitoes. It’s me or them, and now that they carry West Nile Virus here, I’m even more ruthless. Everything else gets to live except in very rare circumstances (like when the yellow jackets were making the dogs pee in the house).
that’s a great idea, Shanna! i’ll have to remember that the next time i have a “pest” dilemma, as i was able to get rid of the wasps last night. funny, i googled “how to get rid of a wasp nest without killing them” and got very few links back – most of the sites that came up were just of the “here’s how to kill them” variety. currently, the bugs i kill on sight are: roaches, silverfish, mosquitoes and clothes moths. happy you can sympathize!
While I am definitly in favor of “kill ALL the wasps” it’s your choice 😉 if you know a way of removing them humanely and if that is what you wanna do, do it 😛
well, next time i’m just going to take out the nest before the queen even has a chance to start building chambers, Icarus! at least then she can go off and make another one somewhere else. 🙂
Who ya gonna call?
WASP BUSTERS!
if only my proton pack worked against wasps, 52pickup. *sigh*
Let me tell you something important: Honeybees are very sweet tempered. They’re nice, they’re calm, and they’ll even ram into you a few times to give you the hint to GO AWAY if they feel threatened by you, before resorting to stinging. They benefit the world.
WASPS ARE ASSHOLES AND WILL FUCK YOUR SHIT UP, THEY BENEFIT NOTHING AND CARE NOT ABOUT WARNING YOU ABOUT JACK SHIT. THEY ARE HATEFUL LITTLE BASTARDS AND ARE ONLY COLORED LIKE BEES!
DESTROY THE FREAKING WASPS! Trust me on this. THEY ARE EVIL!