Wasp queen adventures

Lord Vetinari

Managed to get some shots of a wasp queen. It was walking around very unsteadily in some leaf litter when I spotted it. I suspect it had only just woken up from hibernation. Eventually I transported it to a milk bottle top that I'd baited some ants with the previous day and it spent some time feeding on honey scraps.

Brian V.

latent

Well spotted. She's a beauty. Your garden seems a haven for insect life!

paddler4

Beautiful shots. #4 suggests that unlike some of us, you are not allergic to wasps.

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments

Paddler4- no I'm not allergic to the stings but as long as you don't aggravate them they won't sting you anyway.
Brian v.

Paul Iddon

Enjoyed the set as always Brian, last one in particular.

I saw a large wasp or hornet today for the first time against the window in the back garden, but it had gone before I got outside. Strangely enough, an hour later I found it again around the front on the edge of the car door and window. Didn't get a shot then either, cos the garage mechanic was round looking at the battery for me, and that's when I went out and saw it there! 2 missed opportunities then.



Paul.

paddler4

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Thanks for the comments

Paddler4- no I'm not allergic to the stings but as long as you don't aggravate them they won't sting you anyway.
Brian v.

yes, but where is one, there are often others, and if you accidentally bother them, they can give you no warning. I found out I am allergic when I bothered one I had not even seen.

In our garden, the different species have different preferences. We have a pg hydrangea next to some hollies, so close that two or three are touching. the latter are chock full of yellow jackets, I think hornets, and other such vespids. The hydrangea seems uninteresting to most of the vespids but is full of honeybees, bumblebees, bottle flies and all sorts of other things. I put myself in the middle and try to move only in one direction.

Lord Vetinari

Thanks Paul
You probably saw queen wasps too .

Paddler- agreed- quite easy to annoy them accidently if you haven't noticed them.
Brian V.

Kulla

Nice capture.

You could create encyclopedia of species from your garden

Lord Vetinari

Kulla wrote:

Nice capture.

You could create encyclopedia of species from your garden

Thanks

One of the reasons I take all these shots is just a photo diary of what's going on in the garden.

Brian v.

mtully

Excellent series as usual Brian! It is nice to see our little friends returning from their winter slumber.

Lord Vetinari

mtully wrote:

Excellent series as usual Brian! It is nice to see our little friends returning from their winter slumber.

THanks - agreed the bugs are warming up slowly here.
Brian v.

Numbers Guy

Brian, I'm impressed with these and your other photos and am hoping to learn from them. Are these all hand held, or do you use something to stabilize the camera? Is it all natural light? I seem to never have enough light for a small aperture combined with fast shutter speed to get good handheld shots.

Eclipsed

I like all of them. The last one is cool because of how close you are.

Lord Vetinari

mtully wrote:

Excellent series as usual Brian! It is nice to see our little friends returning from their winter slumber.

Thanks for the comments.
Brian v.

GOLDENORFE

superb series Brian

phil