Early this afternoon, I found it far to stifling to sit inside so I escaped the confines of the Little Bayou House. Outside, I could breathe! After taking a few deep, lung-filling breaths, I fiddled around in the garden. It felt good being out in the sunshine and cooling breezes. While I am not one to complain about being home day after day, I do need my outdoor time! What am I saying?? I stay on the Bayou about 99% of my time. It is here that I feel safe, at peace and welcome. I cannot say that about too many places.
After tending to the tiny seedling tomato plants, I figured that I would sit on the steps and enjoy the view for a while. These steps are directly in line with the pier so the scenery is quite exquisite! It was not long, however, before my eyes were directed toward my feet. Buzzing about the ground below me were a good number of bees...or wasps...or...something. Time to investigate!
In total, there were about 30 insects within a few feet. Some were tiny but one large bee...wasp caught my eye. A scoliid type wasp was crawling about on the board path as if searching for something. She went from board to dirt and back again. This wasp did not bother any of the tiny bees but found a small hole and immediately started digging. I took the opportunity to photograph her up close and personal! While I was busy photographing the wasp, the other insects kept right on digging their nesting sites. Not once did any of them attempt to sting me. In fact, the whole lot of them seemed perfectly oblivious of my presence.
Scoliid wasps have a rather unique..albeit morbid...way of laying eggs. Instead of digging nesting site holes and providing paralyzed insects for their future kids, the Scoliid Wasp merely hunts for a beetle larva hole, digs it larger until she can fit, stings the larva to paralyze it and then lays her egg on its rear. The larva remains alive but cannot move. The wasp egg hatches and the wasp larva starts eating its beetle larva host. If other wasp eggs are in the same larva, the first one to hatch eats all of the other eggs before starting to dine upon the beetle larva. Survival of the fittest...or first, in this case.
I must admit that spending an hour or so watching bees and wasps gave me the fresh air and escape I needed. Tomorrow, the yard work continues so the brain will not feel trapped. Mother Nature can often find cures for our doldrums. The entertainment is endless.
During our evening walk, the old dog refused to go any further. He balked about going down the hill. He turned this way and that instead of following the path. Then, he sat and was not about to go any further. One thing is certain about this fellow, when he decides to do something (or not do), there is no changing his mind. So, I changed my course and took him back inside. I really had no choice. Once inside, he happily plopped on his bed and looked at me as if to say, "I won!" Yeah, you did.
After getting the dog settled, Mark and I continued our stroll about the hillside. Our hikes do not go "down the hill" simply because that is the dog's designated potty spot. We meander across the top of the hill and then down around behind the canebrake. That path, however, could have meant trouble if we had taken the dog. I am glad he rarely goes across the area especially after this evening.
As we were walking, Mark and I both noticed a rather large hole in the ground. It was probably a good two inches in diameter and the sides were smooth. Hmm? My first thought was that the voles had returned but on closer inspection, I found that having voles would have been far better. This was a yellow jacket nest entrance!! Goodness! That hole seemed a lot larger now! As we stood there watching, nigh on fifty of the wasps entered the hole. Had the old dog stumbled across the hole, he would have been covered in a matter of minutes. The poor old dog would have received many painful stings. The fact that he never goes this path and his bull-headedness saved him!
Once again, however, I must say that these wasps were rather docile. Mark and I both were within a foot of the hole when we were pondering the source. Not one of the yellow jackets made an attempt to attack. They were intent on doing whatever they do down in the hole and were oblivious to our presence.
Mark took things in his own hands and got rid of the yellow jackets. He used a tried and true method of "Bottle of Gasoline in the Hole". Find a bottle that has some sort of neck, fill it with gas, wait until dark and then turn the bottle upside down with the neck sticking down in the hole. The gas pours into the nest below ground and kills the wasps that are inside. Waiting until dark assures that most of the yellow jackets are inside the nest. Every year since we have been here, we kill several nests like this. It is the safest way of eradicating the critters.
