Hi, Daryl!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

DS>  I wonder why just "an inflated paper bag" kept the
DS>  wasps away?  Being allergic to stinging insects,
DS>  I'd be very interested in that.


          By now you've probably seen Gord's reply to me.  As he commented,
the bags are more or less the same size & shape as real wasps' nests. 
In this part of the world wasps generally build their nests with
"paper" they make from bits of rotten wood and/or from wood
products such as newsprint.  The nests are grey in colour... and they may
be seen hanging under the eaves of a house or in some obscure corner high
up in a garage or carport.  Wasps are territorial & usually avoid areas
where they believe other wasps are nesting.

          Apparently the colour of the fake nest doesn't have to be exactly
the same as that of a real nest... I suppose the colour of a real nest
might depend on the materials used in construction.  But for whatever
reason(s), wasps don't seem to distinguish between "brown" and
"grey" as we would.

          An alternative to the brown paper bags is a fake nest of similar
size & shape made with more permanent materials.  Nora made one with
reddish-brown & white clay in a random pattern a few months ago.  It
seems to help too....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+