“The what kind of wasp?!” I hear you asking. Enter every horror story ever experienced here. Now, hear me out. Wasps are an important part of a homestead and the eco system and are largely misunderstood. They are beneficial insects.

When I was nineteen or so in the first house I bought, mud daubers made a thriving nest beneath the shed. As y’all know, I do things kind of rash without thinking, so I tried to kill them all and took down the metal shed! Wasps have excellent memories. For months, I had to run to my Wagoneer in the driveway to get to work with a Leatherman jacket and jeans on. I would have tiny punctures in the fabric.

My friends in Thornton- I want to take you on a homestead tour of their urban farm- called to ask me what they can put on wasp stings. Kirk kept getting stung. (The answer is baking soda and peroxide or rubbing alcohol or my allergy remedy.) I wonder why he keeps getting stung, I asked. I asked if he had disturbed their nest and he said matter-of-factly that he might of tried to step on a bunch and hit them with the hose!

We had paper wasps right outside the back door in the eve and wasps on the other side of the house as well. They like to float in the water I put out. It’s fascinating, and then they flip up out of the water and go back to eating bugs. I know there are times that wasps seem to attack out of nowhere, maybe they were already agitated. My daughter got stung multiple times because one got caught in her loose sweater. But by and large wasps are more docile than that. I saw on Reddit someone from the UK asked why American wasps are so aggressive. She always reads how horrible they are when the ones in the UK are rather docile. The ones here are too, they just have a bad rap.

Wasps are pollinators and keep pests like grasshoppers, Dutch elm bug, and aphids in check. They are hard at work in the garden and in orchards. The key is to walk softly through your gardens. In general, always try to walk softly, peacefully, quietly. The wasps will go around you. The deer won’t run. The hummingbirds fly around your head. Just walk softly and appreciate all the helpers on a homestead. Even wasps.

Now the thing I didn’t mention is that on your regenerative homestead with no chemicals (no pesticides, herbicides, fake fertilizers-not even organic!), the system balances itself out without you doing a thing. When thousands of birds descend upon your yard or land (because you put food and water out), they will gobble up most of the wasps. Nature is amazing.