I read in the newspaper that the Netherlands is counting its wasps. There is a national wasp count, a scientific event that has existed for two years. Its goal: to know if the wasp is thriving, and to improve the image of the wasp in general.
Wasps have a bad reputation – no justification for that, according to the National Wasp Foundation
Just try to tell people here in Portugal. I think people either shudder or laugh themselves to death at the thought of counting those creepy creatures. Just the other day, foster son Hugo in our kitchen: “Ellen!!” and I hear an undercurrent of panic in his voice, “Look, a wasp! A really big one! Not a normal one, an Asian wasp – they are dangerous!” and he is already shaking the spray can of poison that we have for emergencies.
“No, no, no need,” I stop him, “Calma, I’ll just put it outside, okay? Glass over it, paper underneath, no problem.”
I know the panic bit, because you hear it from almost every portuguese. Asian wasps are dangerous, deadly, you should immediately panic when you see one, and resort to brute force. They are also counted here, so to speak, but in a completely different way, and with a completely different goal. The government warns against them, and you can betray their whereabouts to them.
That is because they do not belong here, and threaten the native bees. But who can quickly see the difference between a “good” and a “bad” wasp? They look very much the same. The Asian one should go to hell, fine, but how many of the good ones are not crushed and poisoned because they are asian lookalikes?
“Deadly nonsense,” says Broes when I return to the coffee table, “I saw a video of a man who deliberately let himself be stung by all kinds of wasps to see what the effect of their poison actually is. He concluded that a small, greenish, Asian wasp had the most painful effect – one that stays in Asia, so not the Asian wasp that everyone refers to. Apart from that, it wasn’t too bad.”
The asian wasps are deadly for bees, though
“Normally, wasps stings are painful,” Paul adds, who is having a cup of coffee with us. That’s true. Broes knows all about that, because he once stood in a wasp nest on the schoolyard when he was 6. The schoolyard was the forest behind the village school, and some species of wasps make their nest in the ground.
He was standing in the middle of it, but was saved by brave Vera, an older girl with experience of outdoor life. The rest of the school, the other 6 children, the teacher and I, were all quite panicky, but she coolly pulled Broes away from the scene of the disaster and brought him to safety. That did earn her a lot of wasp stings, and she had to go to the hospital afterwards.
If you ingest too much wasp poison, it really doesn’t do you any good. Even if you’re not allergic to it. I learned something from that incident. When we discovered a wasp nest, the volunteers would go to it well protected.
We discovered very quickly that all you have to do is remove the nest that is being built, and when they are homeless, they go somewhere else. Later I bravely did it alone without any protection whatsoever. Just knock the nest off with a broomstick, and then run!
If you leave wasps alone, they usually don’t do anything to you
Only when you disturb them, or start lashing out like a fool, they get angry.
Last year I discovered something strange on one of the books in the book tower in the main hall. A kind of tiny jars, made of earth, all next to each other. No idea what it was, so I asked around and surfed the net a bit, and found out that there are a lot of types of wasps. There is a type of wasp that makes this kind of nests, and mother wasp probably thought she was smart by making it in a very protected place.
How could I know. I started my life as a city slob, didn’t grow up with nature. Wasps are mostly single mothers; they do everything themselves, raising, feeding, protecting. They take care of their children, which is what more insects do by the way. I find that endearing, since I am (or have been) a single mother myself and know what that life entails.
Wasps are fashionable in the Netherlands, let’s see how it’ll go in Portugal
By the way, I am glad that the wasp waist for women is out of fashion, though!
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We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, Holland to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal.
A big step, especially with two small children.
We are busy to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa which has been turned into several holiday houses, rooms and a campsite.
You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere.
Since 2018 we call ourselves the first B&B&B in the world – Bed & Breakfast & Bathrobes. You can buy a home-made unique bathrobe/housecoat with us.
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