Heatwave: how do you and your pets keep cool?

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I just leave upstairs windows open at night and have no problem sleeping. In warm weather I sleep under a quilt cover. The duvet was washed and put in storage a couple of months ago.

I used to have a fan in my office at work because it had three large windows and did become very hot in summer, despite the windows being open and blinds down. I quite liked working at home in hot weather.

They won’t be allowed in after Brexit.

You can easily disturb a nest. I was suddenly aware of whizzing shapes followed by a couple of stings on one ear while emptying a compost heap last week. Only wasps, and I then saw the wonderful papery structure that they were building in the depths of the vegetation. I really couldn’t blame them as I was destroying their house. I went in crying to mrs r and she administered cider vinegar to the ear which rapidly recovered.

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Nasty, Malcolm. You were lucky to get away with just a couple of stings.

Interesting, I haven’t hear of Giant Asian Hornets before so thanks Ian for bringing them to our attention. I had to look them up so thought a couple of images might be appropriate:

We had a hornet in the house a few weeks ago, definitely not an Asian one. It was safely directed out of a window. We have always had them around here but they have never been a problem.

These photos could do with a scale added, Alfa, but they are not called GIANT without reason.

Here is some information about insect bits and stings, how to treat them: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insect-bites-and-stings/ It’s worth having antihistamine cream handy.

“Asian giant hornet
Vespa mandarinia japonica2.jpg
The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), including the subspecies Japanese giant hornet (V. m. japonica),[2] colloquially known as the yak-killer hornet,[3] is the world’s largest hornet, native to temperate and tropical Eastern Asia. They prefer to live in low mountains and forests, while almost completely avoiding plains and high-altitude climates. V. mandarinia creates nests by digging, co-opting pre-existing tunnels dug by rodents, or occupying spaces near rotted pine roots.[4] It feeds primarily on larger insects, colonies of other eusocial insects, tree sap, and honey from honey bee colonies.[5] Some dimensions of this hornet are a body length of 45 mm (1.8 in), a wingspan around 75 mm (3.0 in), and stinger length of 6 mm (0.24 in) which injects a large amount of potent venom.[6]

The Asian giant hornet is sometimes confused with the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina), also known as the Asian hornet, an invasive species of major concern across Europe, including the UK.” Wiki
Asian Giant Hornet

Yellow legged hornet

Might be an idea to consider ticks and the issues related to them, Lyme being perhaps the most worrying. Dealing with wasp nests is also a useful topic and perhaps keeping bees could be very useful.

Raising awareness of common problems and providing up to date advice would be useful. Some of the advice online is not very good and treatment for bites and stings is not all up to date.

“ NHS advice – avoid home remedies such as….vinegar….” Well, perhaps it was coincidental, but when mrs r gently massaged my ear with vinegar (cider, but no doubt others would do – maybe balsamic for the Italian Vespa) the pain and irritation from double wasp stings rapidly disappeared.

I think for bee stings the remedy was bicarbonate of soda, but I have not suffered a bee sting since I was rwo, when exploring our lawn I spotted this big yellow and black friend and picked it up to examine it more closely.

Massaging a bite or sting will help reduce the pain but it really needs to be done with an alcohol-soaked swab to minimise the risk of infection. Covering with a dressing can help avoid the risk of infection. We naturally scratch itchy skin and it’s not a good idea.

Bees leave their stings behind (and die as a result), so its important to remove them promptly to avoid more of their venom entering the wound.

When I was young the advice was to put oil or butter on burns and I have no doubt that this advice is still used. I presume that current advice is to use cold water until the pain stops.

It’s not strictly true that Bees die after stinging; human skin is such that a bee’s sting can become trapped in the epidermis, which can damage the bee fatally as it attempts to fly off but it’s not inevitable.

Yes – I should have said that if bees leave their stings behind they are likely to die. I cannot remember having had a bee sting, though I wish I could say the same about wasps.

My first bee sting was doing the same thing at the same age as Malcolm. The bee looked fluffy.

Full marks for observational skills but must try harder at background reading. 🐝

Is not the problem that the bees leave their sting and behind behind?

That article is totally (and three years) out of date, Duncan; two giant hornet nests were found in Tetbury, Gloucestershire last year. In April this year, an Asian hornet was found on a cauliflower in Bury, Greater Manchester, and was traced to a farm in Boston, Lincs.

From the British Beekeepers Association:
Vespa velutina, sometimes known as the ‘Asian hornet’ is an invasive non-native species from Asia. It has recently arrived in France where it is spreading rapidly. As a highly effective predator of insects, including honey bees and other beneficial species, it can cause significant losses to bee colonies, other native species and potentially ecosystems

Full article here:
https://www.bbka.org.uk/report-asian-hornet
And an identification leaflet link:
https://www.bbka.org.uk/asian-hornet-identification-leaflet-apha

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Ate you saying only “the USA and UK” and that no one else has these?
It was no secret in 2013. But was it real………………..

I don’t believe either country yet has them:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/insect-spy-drone/

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The above was developed by Prox Dynamics, a Norwegian company bought by FLIR Systems.

From Wiki.

A Black Hornet nano helicopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
The Black Hornet Nano is a military micro unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Prox Dynamics AS of Norway, and in use by the Norwegian, the British Army and the armed forces of the Netherlands and Germany.

By September 2016, the PD-100 Black Hornet was in use by the militaries of 19 NATO-allied countries”.[16]