France in Focus

I thought I’d tidy the lavender as it’s all flowered and finished. I have a long line to do so I got the shears out and got cracking. Happily moving along the plants when I felt a pinpoint of discomfort. I thought it was a plant but I had disturbed a little wasps nest and they didn’t like me at all.
I retreated indoors.
I take antihistamine every day for pollen allergies so it didn’t really bother me yesterday but today my leg has got a lovely red patch and a bit of swelling and it’s a bit itchy. So beware those little beasties!

That is such an infamous feeling that swelling/itching. Yuck ! Hope yours heals quickly.

I haven't trimmed ours as they have not quite finished and the bees are still surrounding them.

Still some flowers left to make a bit more lavender wine.

That's telepathy - I cut back a couple of lavenders that had finished flowering, clearing out the spreading mint and bindweed at the same time. I hadn't thought of wasps ... thanks for the warning !
Hope the effects of the sting wear off quickly !

I've got a lot of lavender hedging and learnt very early on to observe it before approaching with shears or hedge trimmer Wherever are gathered 3 wasps, therefore art a nest! I wait until the flowers are well and truly over, then at dusk so the bees are gone but the wasps are all in, spray the nests with a weak cypermethrine solution, the same as used in barrier sprays. The concentrate is called 'Subito' and is available from agri co-ops.
Always keep a bottle of white vinegar handy....soaking the site of the sting asap ensures no ill-effects the following day

Lori wrote: ↑Tue Aug 01, 2023 6:03 pm Still some flowers left to make a bit more lavender wine

Ooh .. you've intrigued me Lori .. how do make Lavender wine ?

How fortunate that you already take an antihistamine each day already, Headers. Hope the redness, itchiness and swelling clear up very soon.

Just a thought, a wasp sting can be a minor nuisance but allergic reactions can get worse with each sting. Another reaction may be more severe, possibly leading to anaphylaxis.

I used to keep wasp nest killer powder for such events later in the season when wasps are just a pest - earlier in the year when they harvest aphids and the like for their young I tolerate them.

A puff around the entrance soon sorts things

A French wasp sting caused me to go into shock not long after we arrived in France. I'd been stung umpteen times elsewhere without anything other than localised swelling etc. Our then GP broke the world land speed record to arrive and pumped me full of adrenaline. I carried an anapen with me for years until I saw the price and then decided I could sufficiently explain the incident and my allergy.
As Polly says, it's not something to take lightly - I know several people who've reacted badly and needed emergency treatment.

White wine vinegar for wasp stings but an alkaline solution for bees. Is there a simple domestic alkaline product?

Sodium bicarbonate?