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The Jew v. The Wasps

If you saw me last Tuesday, you’d have seen a very swollen hand. I was stung while trying to cut down a strip of Trumpet Vine that supports a little wasp’s nest. I was absolutely miserable, and hardly able to make a fist for two days.

Everyone has asked the same questions:

What were you thinking? I was thinking I would cut the section of vine down and the wasps would go away.

Why didn’t you buy a can of spray? Because if it kills wasps it also kills cells in our bodies. No one in this house is allergic to stings so the whole risk reward ratio was skewed in the wasps favor.

Why did you try to cut it down so close to the wasps nest? Why not take a larger section? Ahh, now that’s a good question. Apparently my garden is host to many creatures, including a tiny songbird. She’s in there, sitting on her eggs. I can’t bear to evict her.

Tonight I went out back, armed with only a garden hose and full water pressure, I simply squirted water at the little predators, and guess what? The nest fairly disintegrated, and tomorrow I’ll send my husband out there to snip off the section of vine where it once resided.

Score one for the Jew.

19 thoughts on “The Jew v. The Wasps”

  1. i was stung on the cheek by a wasp 2 days before school pictures in 4th grade. i found out that i’m allergic to wasps & was given a makeup picture. i do wish that i had the one with the swollen face for posterity.

  2. Jessica, I was raised a WASP (a marginalizing epithet, if there ever were one, but there it is) but I’m also allergic to lower case wasps. And bees.

    Granted, it’s ben (*&%(^% years since I’ve been stung (not figuratively, that’s, alas, more common), but I wouldn’t be able to brave a wasps’ nest. Or a hornets’ nest. Or even a beehive.

    My big question for you isn’t about the logistics, but about about risk assessment.

    Didn’t you remember that stings… well, they sting!

    And was it one sting or many? How many wasps died making you uncomfortable?!?

  3. Someone near our house must have a nest since we’re seeing them around our yard a lot this summer. I also think they eat bugs and we have a lot of those in our veggie garden for sure.

    It’s gotten so bad that we’ve had to evacuate a neighborhood bbq and get the kids inside while the dads swat at the wasps. We’ve had success before with those yellow container traps that have vinegar inside so we’re going out today to get some.

    I hate to kill them but I’m not sure if the kids are allergic and I want them to enjoy their yard this summer. Summers in the northwest are too short to be chased inside by wasps every day.

  4. We had a wasp in the house and I begged my husband to kill it. He refused, saying, “Wasps are harmless.” I accused him of favoritism (he’s a WASP, I’m a Jew), but he wouldn’t budge. A few days later, he was walking around barefoot and stepped on the dying wasp. He got stung.

    Now, he kills anything I ask him to.

    Score another for a Jew.

  5. Jessica, while you haven’t had an allergic reaction in the past, that doesn’t mean you won’t in the future. I had been stung when younger and never had a reaction, but am now allergic. I think I would have called an exterminator. I also hope they don’t rebuild their nest nearby, or you may need to start the process over.

  6. I used to do the same thing when I was younger. We’d go into the old military garages and knock some really big nests down and they’d come after us and of course I was really small so I always got stung on my back, alot. But I still went with them the next day. Best time of my life.

  7. your title…followed with the intro paragraph made me spit out my coffee! (damn you…my keyboard is now caffeinated!) LOL

    Sorry about the stings, ouch!

    hope the water hose trick worked and the wasps will leave you alone.

  8. Great title for your post. Very funny indeed. I would not have gone anywhere near those nasty wasps. The water hose was your best but. Hope your hand is all better now.

  9. I just shep naches reading about your Battle with the Heathens.
    Hebrew school was certainly a worthwhile investment for my little Jewess.

  10. that post title was the best…ever.
    going after a wasp nest and not calling in reinforcements…not the best ever.
    sorry you got stung. those damn wasps.

  11. That really was the best title eva. I read it to my husband, who is Jewish, he pumped his fist twice and grunted YES! Don’t know what made me laugh harder, you, or how dorky he is.

  12. Thanks for the great laguh! As a fellow Jew..it’s been my theory that we don’t touch gardening tools or lawn mowers. It’s in a book somewhere, I am sure.

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