Dear All,
   In some recent emails to Nature NS I commented on the hefty sting
of the Black Wasp of meadow encounters and lore about 80 years ago.
   I recently caught and had a good look at a Bald-Faced Hornet. I
think they are the same.
Dave, Kentville
Hello, David,
The compost is a black plastic tall dome, a little larger than a steel trash can, with no floor. It has vents around the sides. The lid is spaced to provide more ventilation and apparently to allow these worms to gather.
On the question of “Are they worms?†here is a splicing of Wikipedia phrases:
Eisenia fetida (older spelling: foetida), known under various common names <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_names> such as redworm … is a species of earthworm <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm> adapted to decaying <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposition> organic material. These worms thrive in rotting vegetation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetation>, compost <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost>, and manure <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manure> … rarely found in soil. E. fetida worms are used for vermicomposting <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicompost> of both domestic and industrial organic waste.[ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenia_fetida#cite_note-Albanell1988-2>
This is what I think the creatures are. I have now learned that there is no point in adding them to my garden soil along with the compost because all they want is the decaying organic matter.
But I still haven’t seen anything that explains the behaviour below.
Cheers,
Nancy
> On Aug 30, 20, at 5:59 PM, David Webster <dwebster(a)glinx.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Nancy,
>
> I don't know what a compost bin is, just use the ground, but I wonder if these are not earthworms but instead are some kind of fly larvae.
>
> Dave
> On 8/30/2020 3:59 PM, Nancy Roberts wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> Sometimes I find a writhing wad of the smaller red earthworms right on the rim of my typical black compost bin. The compost might be only halfway up the sides, so they have deliberately and concertedly made quite a climb.
>>
>> What for?
>>
>> There are pockets of them wadded together down in the compost as well, for instance inside a rotted-out avocado pit or hollowed corn cob, so they can be close without meeting up on the rim.
>>
>> Thank you for your insights,
>>
>> Nancy Roberts
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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Enjoy my ceramic sculptures at
www.nspotters.com/nancy-roberts <http://www.nspotters.com/nancy-roberts>
http://visual-voice.ca/fineart/nancy-roberts.html <http://visual-voice.ca/fineart/nancy-roberts.html>
http://metrobusinessassociation.ca/sculpture/ <http://metrobusinessassociation.ca/sculpture/>
Hello,
Sometimes I find a writhing wad of the smaller red earthworms right on the rim of my typical black compost bin. The compost might be only halfway up the sides, so they have deliberately and concertedly made quite a climb.
What for?
There are pockets of them wadded together down in the compost as well, for instance inside a rotted-out avocado pit or hollowed corn cob, so they can be close without meeting up on the rim.
Thank you for your insights,
Nancy Roberts
Monarch butterfly at the corner of the Wyman Road and Hogg Road (Regent
Street), south of Yarmouth, about 9:40 this morning.
Male ruby-throat at the feeder chez nous on Wyman Road just now.
Is it time to stop feeding those little guys?
This morning I managed to catch the tail end of what were migrants moving through my LaHave yard. I was watching warblers moving through the backend of the yard and by the time I was able to go out most of them had already passed by. I still was able to view 7 species of warblers, a red-eyed vireo, some black-capped chickadees, both red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches, and a northern flicker. The warblers were constantly moving and were hard to get a bead on. So, I'm sure there were species that I missed. I did see black-throated green, common yellowthroat, American redstart, black and white, northern parula, palm warbler and yellow-rumped warbler.
James R. Hirtle
LaHave
Hi all,
Have anew video
Hope you like it.
Paul Ruggles
channel-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------opl09----------------------------/UCN9vPZWRq8auD66f8rfEKeuuQ/videos?view_as=subscriber <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9vPZWRq8auD66f8rfEKeQ/videos?view_as=sub…>
Last night by the store in Petite Riviere I came upon a nice migrant group of birds. There were numbers of yellow-rumped warblers with some other warblers mixed in as well as red-eyed vireo, black-capped chickadees and a hairy woodpecker.
James R. Hirtle
LaHave
I have been interested in insects for years, and have been photographing them seriously for about a decade. Here is some information, and some results of experience.
When I have been photographing wasps, I often wade into growths of Goldenrod which they admire, and have never once been stung in such situations. They are more interested in their natural food than in me.
On the other hand, yellow-jackets are attracted to picnics, and I have seen stings resulting from such encounters. I also know that at the end of the season, all yellow-jackets die except the queen. At this point the workers become very defensive of the hive, and will sting people within about 3 m. And once alerted, they will chase an intruder for long distances. This the same behavior one sees with their relatives who build above-ground, paper nests. The only problem is that we may not see a Yellow-jacket nest, and may approach it unknowingly, as when mowing. Once they attack, the Yellow-jackets are vicious at this stage, and the only hope is to run into a house or a car, and stay there.
But is is possible to control Yellow-Jackets. First, find the nest by following them. The nest will be marked by a modest hole in the ground. The nest rule is: all the inhabitants into the nest with the setting of the sun. That is, they are “reverse vampires,†if you want to think of it that way. They are really punctual. I have counted over 500 Yellow-jackets entering a single hive. And when the sun sinks, they are all inside. Now spray insect spray into the entrance, and place a small pebble over the entrance afterwards. That is the end of the hive.
So what to do if stung? Everyone has a treatment. I have found that the best and quickest treatment is to run to your kitchen and grab a box of baking soda and mix about a tablespoon with enough water to make a mash, and paste it on the site of the sting. In some cases, I have found that the sting-sensation disappears instantly. I have also tried this treatment on a dog who was stung by playing with a nest of paper-wasps, and he reacted just as I would from the resulting stings; and when treated with baking soda, he looked upon me with an unmistakable expression of gratitude. So the treatment works for man and dog.
