Know the difference between bees, wasps

What’s with all the controversy? Bees can only sting once, then they die, because their stinger has tiny barbs that catch in the skin and pull out of the bee. Wasps can sting many times, releasing venom over and over.

The wasp (yellow Jacket) looks like a bee. It’s about the same size and fights to protect its hive, which has been worked on all summer and is usually in the ground or in the soft wood of a rotten tree and easily disturbed in fall while doing yard work (mowing lawn, weed whipping, moving log piles, digging gardens over preparing for winter, etc.) Fall is also a time for last family and comppicnics, and outdoor fun while it’s still warm.

Haven’t you ever set an open can of beer down only to come back to it and found a wasp drinking it for you? Bees don’t feed in on sweet liquids in the fall, they are still packing away honey in the hive — if there’s any pollen available.

Yellow jacket wasps can also communicate with each other and “call” on swarms to fight intrusion from us. It doesn’t do any good to run, either. Wasps can swarm and sting many times, or, once inside your mouth (where it really hurts) if you’re not aware of a wasp in your open beer can or bottle as you pick it up and drink.

And many stings from wasps can overwhelm your body with deadly toxins and kill babies, elderly, and so on. I’m surprised the Daily Herald hasn’t warned residents with some accurate bee/wasp information and illustrations (protect the bees, be careful of wasps.). My information is only from past experience, I’m old.

Douglas Ploss

Antioch