Bees or Wasps? and BOCG on TV

["Philip Veerman" <>]

Hard to imagine these would not be wasps. Win TV news tonight had a bit about the European Wasp and their occurrence here. Made the point that there have not been any recorded fatalities (I'm not sure if that is ACT or all of Australia). They have killed some dogs. A sting in the mouth appears to be the biggest risk and this can happen from eating or drinking something that the wasp is on, without noticing it. Such as drinking from a drink can that a wasp has gone in without being noticed.

 

That was just before or after the bit about the launch of BoCG2 at ANBG today, that showed about 2 seconds of Paul Fennell with the book, 5 seconds of the book and a bit more about Jon Stanhope talking about cats, filmed just outside the venue. Curious that they took the link to cats as the main focus of the story.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Clayton [
Sent: Tuesday, 16 February 2010 4:21 PM
To: 'John Layton'; 'Canberra Birds'
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Bees or Wasps?

John,

 

They sound very much like European Wasps to me. I’m not sure just how far they have spread in NSW but given that they are common in the ACT – even in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve – I wouldn’t be surprised if they have made it out there. To me they are generally the same size as a Honey Bee but slimmer and much more brightly marked in yellow and black and a lot faster flying. They love anything sweet.

 

Mark

 

---

From: John Layton [
Sent: Tuesday, 16 February 2010 2:38 PM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Bees or Wasps?

 

Dropped into Gelatissimo on Baylis Street Wagga Wagga where they serve the best gelato in the world. Roma, eat ya heart out! A sign in the store read, Please beware of the bees flying around. According to the manager the store is under siege by tiny black and yellow insects that “pack a painful punch”, but she added that nobody had been stung. A local beekeeper told her “not to kill the bees because it will attract more.” Not much to go on but, given the circumstances – the insects appear to be attracted to the sweet fare, I wonder if they’re bees or wasps. I asked Ms. Gelato to catch one in a jar so I could take it for identification but she would not oblige, had no jars.

 

John K. Layton.