ID this pollinator?

Gary Knowels

Hack of all trades
Forum Supporter
An insect I've never seen before was pollinating my raspberries this morning. There were actually 3-4 of them. They look to be some sort of bee/wasp, tough to get good pictures though
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Looks like a bald-faced hornet to me.

Did you know bald face hornets will bump you to try and deter your current course before lighting you up.. If you pay attention and make a 90 degree turn you can often view the basketball of pain as you move past safely. I respect them much more than yellow jackets.
 
Did you know bald face hornets will bump you to try and deter your current course before lighting you up.. If you pay attention and make a 90 degree turn you can often view the basketball of pain as you move past safely. I respect them much more than yellow jackets.
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I was stung by a wasp that looked very similar to that. Was one of the most painful stings that I have received.
 
I didn't realize they were black and white. They were completely unbothered by me.
They were hungry and deemed you not to be a threat. Their nest is probably somewhere not too too far away though. Get stung by one and you won’t forget what they look like. Unless, of course, you are @alpinetrout who has a supernatural resistance to bald-faced hornets that he probably picked up when he was bitten by a radioactive bot fly in South America.
 
A coworker had an attic containing a very large bald-faced hornets nest. Called in a pest control outfit, who elected to pass on dealing with the vicious critters in such a confined environment...and if you've ever been stung by one you'd agree with their decision. Bald Face hornets don't FA.

My coworker finally determined where they were entering/exiting the attic...via a quarter inch hole in the siding up near the soffit. It was becoming a serious problem...they couldn't go outside near the house without being attacked.

Desperate, he waited until nightfall and taped a long vacuum hose up the exterior wall, with its end near the hole. The other end was connected to a big wet vac with a few inches of soapy water in the bottom.

For almost a week he left it running from daybreak to nighttime, emptying the wet vacuum of hornets each evening.....until he ran out of hornets.

A rather ingenious solution!
 
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The most scared I have ever been was while sitting in my pickup eating my lunch (a peanutbutter and honey sandwhich ) miles from the nearest road, watching some deer on the hillside. When I took a bite, it felt like a hot needle went through my tongue. When I opened my mouth, a Bald faced hornet flew out. I just knew my tongue would swell up and choke me before I could get help. I swished ice water over my tongue and even prepared a ball point pen in case I needed to give myself a tracheotomy. I don’t know if I could have done it, but fortunately, to my relief, my tongue didn't swell up.
 
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