hey thanks for the vote of confidence my man.
while i am loathe to admit it,i am just as susceptable to presumption as the next person but i find if we give that person a chance we can learn so much more about who they actually are.
we are all human after all.
being a gnostic i tend to get flack from not just the secular community but an even more virulent reception from the religious community.

it took a bit of conversing with shiny to understand he was just a true believer and not some wanker looking to stir the wasp nest.

i have found if you listen to what someone says (even if you disagree) and dont outright dismiss their core beliefs,their tone will change to a much softer and palatable discourse.

so much gets lost in text that patience is a must to achieve a better understanding.of course i fail at this as often as i succeed,but i try.

WASPs for the win!

>> ^rychan:

Like so much of QI, it seems like they're being intellectually sloppy. They offer some evidence that bees are easier to TRAIN, but do they actually detect smells at lower concentrations? It seems unlikely to me. A dog simply has a much, much larger sensor than a bee.


Inscentinel claim that their studies show the bees to be at least as good as sniffer dogs:

http://www.inscentinel.com/InscentinelLtd/Pages/technology.html

> For most compounds bees are much more sensitive than humans, and our studies indicate that they are at least as good as sniffer dogs. They can for instance detect parts per trillion concentrations of explosive material such as TNT

Note also that they don't just use a single bee -- they have a group of them in cassettes in the detector boxes.

Wikipedia has some interesting information here about other things that wasps and bees have been used to detect (e.g. certain cancers, by smelling breath):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trained_hymenoptera

It good to be the King. aka Filthy Rich WASPs

America pokes at wasp nest with stick and becomes thoroughly indignant after getting stung.
The wasps must hate them for their cheap long distance phone plan.

You're right, of course. But as a town mouse myself, I can't help but shudder at the thought of the great outdoors myself. It's pathetic, I know!
>> ^Sagemind:

Ants should start respecting nature by stopping digging all those holes.
Beavers should start respecting nature by stopping building those dams.
Termites should start respecting nature by not building all those hills,
Bees, Hornets and Wasps should start respecting nature by not building hives everywhere.
Woodpeckers should start respecting nature by not pecking holes in every tree they see.
etc...

Thanks for getting to that video first

Seriously, NP, it was a great video so thanks for posting it.

In reply to this comment by mintbbb:
Yay, thanks for the promote and quality! :

In reply to this comment by Lawdeedaw:
Wow!? Only 21 votes? This will not do! He flies off with the *ucking head... *promote

Yay, thanks for the promote and quality!

In reply to this comment by Lawdeedaw:
Wow!? Only 21 votes? This will not do! He flies off with the *ucking head... *promote

I think that would defeat the point...>> ^waynef100:

no wasps were harmed during... oh... nevermind

>> ^xxovercastxx:

>> ^ant:
Ah, I never got into MOO series and its genre. Did those alien ants act like real ants?
Well, no. I mean they can talk and use advanced technology and fly space ships and stuff.
What they do have is something of a hive mind. As a result they are unaffected by morale (whether good or bad) but also are "Uncreative" which manifests by limiting which technologies they can research. They have a bonus to both industry and farming. They tend to be given one of the more aggressive asshole AI scripts and are among the most advantaged races, which makes them a big pain in the ass.


Bah, ants don't have hives! Only bees and wasps. Thanks.

no wasps were harmed during... oh... nevermind

It's not an ant, but a wasp.

>> ^skinnydaddy1:

Found a nest of those the hard way. Was helping a guy prepping a house for painting. I was on the roof prepping some over hangs. When I got stung the first time. No biggie I thought I'll swat it and go on. I looked down and saw about 10 of the fuckers on my stomach and more streaming out of a hole in the roof. Then as more and more landed on me they all stung about the same time. I screamed, rolled, fell, landed on top of a fence, pinwheeled and landed on the guy. (All the while getting stung again and again) we both screamed. We are now both being stung. Scrambled and dove in to a near by pool. 80+ stings. 3 cracked ribs and 2 broken fingers. (No idea how I broke them) I decided no to work outside anymore after that.
Mother nature does not like me and I've not found enough money to buy a flame thrower so I could fight back.


My father is a carpenter so dealing with wasps was a regular thing. Rather than a flamethrower, we found a plain old hand saw to be the most practical line of defense. I dubbed it the "bee accelerator". Waving it through the air is a great way to fend off dozens of them at a time. They also make a very satisfying *ping!* as they hit the blade.

Of course the most important part of dealing with wasps is to be aware of them before they start stinging you. If you find yourself totally surprised, all bets are off.

Congrats on breaking my record for most stings in a single attack, though. I've only ever managed about 30-35.