350 Wasps: Their Life- History and Habits. [Sess. 



two or three rails together, end to end, I pushed this up gently 



until it was quite close to the nest, and then with one thrust 



sent the whole flying to the ground. I immediately tried to 



fly myself, but I found the wasps could do so much faster, for 



I had scarcely turned when two little rascals were busy on 



the back of my neck. These stings took me more by surprise 



than any others I ever got. If the nest is in the ground, no 



one need be afraid to sit down at the side of it and eat his 



lunch : all you have got to do is to pull a handful of grass or 



moss and stuff it into the hole. So long as you keep the 



wasps in that were in the nest when you stopped the hole, 



you are safe : those that are out will not sting, although you 



may be surrounded by hundreds. They are too eager to find 



the entrance to their nest to take notice of any one. Both 



bees and wasps are the same in that respect : close the 



entrance to the hive, and those coming in will not sting you 



although you sat on the alighting board. As a rule wasps are 



very easily annoyed, and fly at all intruders ; yet sometimes 



one may do a great deal near the nest without being stung. 



I remember once clipping a tall beech hedge in which there 



was a wasp's nest, and although the nest was less than a foot 



from my shears, and it must have taken me a considerable 



time to get past it, while all the time shaking the hedge and 



making a noise with the shears, yet I did not get stung. 



Two women who were raking the prunings got very badly 



stung, however. I went to see what the commotion was 



about, and got stung as well, — my first intimation of a wasp's 



nest being there. Another time I went into a wood with a 



gun to get a shot, and was walking very slowly and quietly, 



when I was made aware of being in front of a wasp's nest by 



a sting on the face. In the first case I was shaking the nest 



and making a noise, with quick movements, all of which 



annoy wasps very much, yet I did not get stung. In the 



other case I did not disturb them in any way, and yet got 



stung at once. There is one thing in this connection which 



puzzles me much, namely, how a blackbird can stand at the 



side of a hanging wasps' nest and tear it to pieces to devour 



the larva, and yet not be stung to death. The bird does not 



seem to be annoyed in any way, but if I venture to see what 



is going on, I am certain to be very much stung — I suppose, 



for not minding my own business ! 



