j.w
I Love my Goldies
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2010
- Messages
- 34,002
- Reaction score
- 20,936
- Location
- Arlington, Washington
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- USDA 8a
- Country
Not so fast! Do you enjoy that nice chilled beer after your pond building? I just found this info on the net:
Researchers at the University of Florence recently discovered another important role of both hornets and paper wasps – they carry yeast cells in their guts! Yeast is used to make bread, beer, and wine, but we know very little about how yeast lives in the wild. The University of Florence researchers found that wasps and hornets feed on late season grapes, which are rich in wild yeast. The yeast survives the winter in the stomachs of hibernating queen wasps, and is passed on to their offspring when the mother wasps regurgitate food for their young. The new generation of wasps carries the yeast back to the next season's grapes. So raise your glass to the wasps and hornets!
Yellowjackets don't get quite as much credit for being beneficial, although they should. Yellowjackets mostly scavenge dead insects to feed their offspring. We do need these services, too, of course. What would the world be like if all the dead bugs just piled up? Unfortunately, their scavenging habits and their love of sugar puts them in close proximity to people, which almost never ends well for the yellowjacket or the person.
insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/f/What-Good-Are-Wasps.htm
Researchers at the University of Florence recently discovered another important role of both hornets and paper wasps – they carry yeast cells in their guts! Yeast is used to make bread, beer, and wine, but we know very little about how yeast lives in the wild. The University of Florence researchers found that wasps and hornets feed on late season grapes, which are rich in wild yeast. The yeast survives the winter in the stomachs of hibernating queen wasps, and is passed on to their offspring when the mother wasps regurgitate food for their young. The new generation of wasps carries the yeast back to the next season's grapes. So raise your glass to the wasps and hornets!
Yellowjackets don't get quite as much credit for being beneficial, although they should. Yellowjackets mostly scavenge dead insects to feed their offspring. We do need these services, too, of course. What would the world be like if all the dead bugs just piled up? Unfortunately, their scavenging habits and their love of sugar puts them in close proximity to people, which almost never ends well for the yellowjacket or the person.
insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/f/What-Good-Are-Wasps.htm
