My unusual hobby helps me cope with my social anxiety disorder

Hornetboy

Hornetboy

Active member
狼;528590 said:
That's so cool. I love unusual collections of things from nature (I have a small skull collection) and the fact that you are trying to help keep a "pest" alive with passing on information about them like that they are actually helpful is great!

Thanks for posting....but *sigh* I was almost killed by yellow jackets when i was little...like stung over 50 times(my brothers and I accidentally disrupted their hive in an old butter churn) so I am not so crazy about them haha

great pics too!!! XD
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Since I love nature so much and I don't have easy access to it (since I live in a city), the next best thing for me is to bring a part of nature into my apartment and surround myself with it. This makes living in a city bearable for me!

I am glad that I have my wasp nest collection because I use it as a tool to educate people about the beneficial aspects of these often misunderstood creatures. Wasps NEED a best friend to spread the truth about them... to change people's perceptions.

I am very sorry about your bad experience with wasps! ::(: *HUGGGGGGGS*
 
Niteowl

Niteowl

Well-known member
Well, that's amazing! The museum type thing you've got going on looks great; I like the pictures on the wall too.

I love to see people being so passionate about their hobbies, especially the unusual ones!
 
Hornetboy

Hornetboy

Active member
Niteowl said:
Well, that's amazing! The museum type thing you've got going on looks great; I like the pictures on the wall too.

I love to see people being so passionate about their hobbies, especially the unusual ones!
Click to expand...

Yep, my wasp nest museum is my pride and joy! :)
 
Ms Cloud

Ms Cloud

Well-known member
Hornetboy said:
Well, buzzing is the natural sound of an active colony. I've never heard it described as a jackhammer though! Honeybee colonies hibernate through the winter and reuse their nests the following year. Wasp colonies abandon their nests and die during the late fall/early winter and don't reuse their nests the following year. You will see combs if you open the wall where the nest is. Anyway, which do you have? Bees or wasps?
Click to expand...
I don't know! :) I'm not even sure where they get in, but the sound comes from high up (it's a two-storey house), so even if I saw them coming and going I wouldn't be able to identify them from ground level. Also I wouldn't want to get too close, unless I had an idea of what species I was dealing with and what to expect from them.

Seriously though... the buzzing (or whatever it is) reverberates through the wall. It's not a continuous sound, more like a pulse, repeating at regular intervals.

I guess it can't be wasps then, since they've been using this same nest for many years now. They must hibernate in it. But the sound they make seems too loud for honeybees. I need to investigate more... I admit I've been content to assume they were some kind of wasp or hornet, but I'm more curious now.

I like the quote in your signature by the way. I'm a nature-dweller myself.

:)
 
Hornetboy

Hornetboy

Active member
Ms Cloud said:
I don't know! :) I'm not even sure where they get in, but the sound comes from high up (it's a two-storey house), so even if I saw them coming and going I wouldn't be able to identify them from ground level. Also I wouldn't want to get too close, unless I had an idea of what species I was dealing with and what to expect from them.

Seriously though... the buzzing (or whatever it is) reverberates through the wall. It's not a continuous sound, more like a pulse, repeating at regular intervals.

I guess it can't be wasps then, since they've been using this same nest for many years now. They must hibernate in it. But the sound they make seems too loud for honeybees. I need to investigate more... I admit I've been content to assume they were some kind of wasp or hornet, but I'm more curious now.

I like the quote in your signature by the way. I'm a nature-dweller myself.

:)
Click to expand...

Well, hopefully you can find out what they are.

Thanks for your words regarding my signature.
 
S

Silatuyok

Well-known member
Here in the Midwest we have what is called a Cicada Killer. Do you have those where you live, or know about them? I got to see one in action this summer and it was really cool. It was a cicada/cicada-killer/cat standoff in the middle of the road....the cat won.
 
Hornetboy

Hornetboy

Active member
Absolutely_Sweet_Marie said:
Here in the Midwest we have what is called a Cicada Killer. Do you have those where you live, or know about them? I got to see one in action this summer and it was really cool. It was a cicada/cicada-killer/cat standoff in the middle of the road....the cat won.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am very familiar with cicada killers. We have them here too. They are the "gentle giants" of the wasp world. Despite their huge size, they are relatively harmless and are not aggressive towards people. These are solitary wasps just like mud daubers. They don't live in colonies and defend their nests like hornets and yellowjackets do. Cicada killers sting cicadas to paralyze them, stuff them into burrows in the ground, lay eggs on their prey and then the paralyzed cicadas are eaten alive by the wasp larvae after they hatch. Isn't nature fascinating???

Here is more information for you to check out:
Sphecius speciosus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Despite its intimidating size, you should NOT fear a cicada killer... unless you are a cicada!
 
Kiwong

Kiwong

Well-known member
You'd want to make sure the nests are indeed abandoned before collecting them!

Those nests are massive

I've seen some massive wasps out in Western New South Wales. Also been stung many times by paper wasps that seem to perch under leaves in vegetation near granite outcrops.
 
Last edited:
Hornetboy

Hornetboy

Active member
mikebird said:
You should make this a business, and get awards for research!
Click to expand...

Awwwww... ::eek:: Thanks!

My reward is changing people's perceptions about these often misunderstood creatures. Another reward is saving wasps from unnecessary extermination (when their nests are built in out-of-the-way places).
 
Hornetboy

Hornetboy

Active member
Kiwong said:
You'd want to make sure the nests are indeed abandoned before collecting them!
Click to expand...

The best time to collect wasp nests is during the late fall/early winter after a couple of hard freezes. It will be safe to collect them then. It is about that time now!
 
Necrucifer

Necrucifer

Well-known member
Woooooooooooooooow........did I say wow....? wow...I would love to go do stuff like that I love things like this LOL its awesome...and as for cicada's I love listening to them.
 
FountainandFairfax

FountainandFairfax

in a VAN down by the RIVER
That's an impressive collection. I don't think I've ever heard of this kind of collecting before. I'm also glad that you have found a hobby that helps to alleviate the pain that comes with living with SAD.

I also have to ask... what did you think of The Green Hornet movie?
 
S

starbox

Member
They're amazing, well done on amassing such a fascinating collection! I agree, having really interesting stuff to do at home means you can quite happily live without the outside world. I do serious patchwork-quilting; just finished a double quilt with some squares only 0.5 cm across, so you get a great result but time consuming and all by hand! I buy lovely fabrics off the internet and can't wait to come home. Plus I read a lot and have 5 gorgeous cats, all much more rewarding than people on the outside I find! Good luck with your hobby x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top