Bees vs. Wasps – Why Not Love Them Both?

I tend to appreciate more when I know more.

In Edmonton, there was a periodic homeless lady, Grace. She was harmless when approached or approached you, no matter how dishevelled she was. She would usually ask passers-by if she could have a quarter.

For better or for worse, I often gave her what she was asking for. After a few years, I read about her life story in the local paper. The shortened version is that she was a healthy, average young adult. After giving birth, she had mental health issues and slipped into homelessness. There were periods of stability with the support of a loving family. Eventually, I read of her death. It saddened me to know of her struggles.  

So let me segue way to my friends, the bees.

I love bees as much as the next person. Oh, yes, they sting sometimes, but without them, our food yields would be much lower thanks to their prolific pollination.

No news flash so far. But those pesky wasps. They hurt. They build their homes wherever they want. Not like those considerate bees in the white-boxes-in-the-corner-of-fields housing developments.

But like people, the better I know something, the better I can appreciate previously hidden qualities. At last, enter the mighty wasp. Think of wasps as the ancestors of bees. Bees are wasps that have forgotten how to hunt.

Hunting wasps can control the insects that attack maize crops. The use of predatory insects in crop protection is estimated at over $400 billion each year.

Some research found that wasps visited at least 960 plant species. Some orchids attract male wasps by mimicking the back end of a female wasp.

Yellowjackets are rather hairy – getting easily covered in pollen. Their venom is being investigated as a promising treatment for cancer.

The more I learned about wasps, the greater my appreciation.

So please give this a bit of a think. What is one quality or aspect of yourself that others do not know? If others knew it, how would their view of you change? Now here’s is a trickier part. Can you ask somebody you know on a first-name basis the same question you just asked yourself? “Can you tell me one thing I don’t know about you that you think would change our relationship for the better?”

I know it’s a big ask this time.

I’m curious about your thoughts. Please share your own bit-of-a-think below.

Photo by Max Muselmann on Unsplash

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