Made this for the Solarpunk Aesthetic Week server in a sudden creative fever, so I guess I'll post it here too hh
A relative of mine knows someone who teaches kids, so I'm gonna suggest this as an art project for them! The idea is that students could each make/decorate their own shelf, then put them together to form a hive, which could function as mini lockers in their classrooms. Then, by the end of the school year or something, they could either take their own little shelf home (or exchange them with their peers?), or recycle them into materials for the next class! Hopefully it'll teach them about pollinators too 🐝
Idk how doable this project is really, and its scary to imagine one of my silly designs could actually become something tangible irl. But even so, I'm still excited to try 🥰 (And if anyone else attempts this too, please let me know!!!)
@unalive-drawer submitted: Kind of blurry, but I've jarred and released this lovely lady[?] today :)
Wasps have been finding their way into the house for the past few weeks. I used to be terrified of getting close to them, but they're a lot more chill than expected [I know they're not just assholes like everyone says, but I always expected them to be a lot more defensive than they are]
No Id necessary for this buggy! Just wanted to share the little sweetie!
Very cute friend! And indeed they are generally not aggressive at all in my experience when they accidentally wander into the house :)
Imagine being so teeny tiny that you are an endoparasite on *leafhoppers* Leafhoppers are already in the "so small they go unnoticed" category, and you're just a little pest on a minuscule thing.
Of course the group that's most likely to choose this life? The wasps Wasps are some of the smallest insects. There are "fairy flies" that are parasites of the eggs of certain insects.
They are so small that air is "thick" to them and their wings have feathered edges are are oar shaped.
Some fairly flies are so tiny that their neurons are cells without nuclei. They got rid of them to save space. They can still think though... presumably the tiniest little thoughts.
Photo by Alexey Polilov, 2012
They lay their eggs inside of the eggs of 1-2mm long crop pests.
And... read the article to see what the males are like... they are even smaller somehow, but it's ... disturbing.
Last year I got a little wasp problem when wasps decided that my balcony's wooden ceiling would be a perfect spot for a nest. The nest apparently was never finished and I found large pieces of it on the floor but I still contacted maintenance to ask what to do.
The maintenance came to visit and didn't find any nest, so that's good. I was told that I should put a crocheted fake wasp nest on my balcony, near the spot wasps favor, because they refuse to built a nest on someone else's territory. Better yet, fill the nest with newspaper because it smells like a wasp nest.
I found some handmade nests online and I'm going to give it a try! Many of the sellers said that they and their friends and family have been using the fake nests successfully for years in home, summer cottages, outdoor buildings etc.
Here are some patterns (in English) for crafty people.
Sharing this here because I didn't even know about such a solution! I hope it helps anyone who wants to keep unwanted wasps away from certain parts of their home and yard.