I hate these stupid ass motherfuckers. Yellowjackets will leave you alone if you leave them alone, simple as that.
I have a nest of them in my garden currently, they took over a compost bin. I went right up to them and was fucking around with the compost before realizing they were there. They started swarming so I immediately stopped moving, then after a few seconds, slowly took my hand out, waited a few more seconds, then put the lid back on the bin and secured it, then slowly backed away. Didn't get stung at all even though I basically touched some of them and messed with their shelter.
But no these Big Tough Manly Men™ on reddit.com are so scared of them that they will burn them alive, drown them, stomp on them, poison them, etc. Fucking pathetic.
ETA: Read up, libs
Love to see people being downvoted for pointing out that wasps/yellowjackets have a vital role to play as members of their ecosystem. There is also the wonderful accepted wisdom that somehow non-native honeybees are “the good bug” unlike wasps. It reminds me of how the “save the bees” urban beekeeping craze is squeezing the limited resources available to native bees. Why the fuck is ecological management not centrally planned? :honk-enraged:
Lest you call a Redditor ignorant or try to broaden their worldview though. They are not ignorant. They have a huge folder of I Fucking Love Science memes and have seen every video of Neil deGrasse Tyson. They know shit.
ecological management would probably be more efficient if it was locally run by people who know about the native wildlife just because a central government isn't really that capable of making small adjustments to specific local criteria
True, especially given the scale of the US (which is still something I struggle with comprehending at times). I guess the thing I’m grasping for is some degree informed planning to it that is delegated from a position of authority - to prevent counterproductive, undirected acts of good intention happening (like urban beekeeping).
yeah a bunch of random good intentioned people who know nothing about what's helpful is also not ideal
Why the fuck would people not raise native bees if they were going to do this as a hobby?
Native bees are generally solitary and don't produce honey. People are looking to exploit honeybees and pretend they're good for doing so