North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

Rivka, you kill me, you actually relocate wasp nests so you aren't destroying them?  I wonder if this doesn't create territorial wars between your immigrant nests and already established nests.  Hmm you may be doing more harm than good.  OK, just kidding. 

 

As a fruit grower bald-face hornets and yellow jackets can be more than a nuisance some years as they destroy a lot of fruit by chewing holes in all the best stuff just as it ripens.  You grab a piece of fruit that is occupied and it's even more annoying.  If you try to harvest while they are active they sometimes actually swarm you and drive you from the tree.  Growing fruit is not a Disney nature animation and I have become ruthless, though sometimes I feel a bit like Elmer Fudd, I have to admit.

 

As far as beneficials being caught in apple cider, I get mostly wasps, flies, moths and finally some carrion beetles as things get funky.