Bees do it

Beverage: rum, coke and Malibu

Toast: Perseverance and Persistence

There's a family of wasps working on a nest on the ceiling above my deck. I spotted them when a friend and I were sitting out. A wasp was buzzing around us and she pointed him out.

It doesn't freeze inTexas so the bugs can live through the winter. I'd seen a wasp or two on the deck before and didn't really think much about it. Looking up and around then though, I saw a serious nest. We wimped out and ducked inside.

Maintenance cleared the nest out the next day, but a few weeks later, the wasps were back. They had built a new nest near the original spot.

My attack on the nest was a comedy of buildup, brief action and abject terror.

I fetched my broom from the closet and peered cautiously out the sliding deck door. The new nest was small; perhaps four wasps tending a small clutch of grubs. Or something. I couldn't really figure it out but something was up. But I sensed they knew I was there as they buzzed menacingly about.

I struck an attack pose with broom and inched in for the kill. This would be easy. I was able to get pretty close, and was sure I could kill them all and wipe out the nest in one move. I struck! But through some eldritch wizardry, the wasps floated lazily out of my reach just before the broom landed. The nest was obliterated but the adults got away.

I immediately ran back and hid inside. Still hopeful of killing the adults I brandished my broom and laid in wait. The wasps hovered in confusion about the spot of the old nest. I stepped out to attack, but again they floated away.

This exact scene has repeated three times now.

I starting to respect the determination of the wasps. Every week they would rebuild in the same spot, I would smash their home, fearfully retreat and plan fruitlessly to kill them. They would blithely fly away and rebuild a day or so later.

So, today I mixed a drink I used to enjoy with the gal that first noticed the wasps' existence and sat out on the deck to enjoy a mild summers day.

Posted with Blogsy