Heaps of people say they “hate wasps”. A wasp innocently humming round a room will sometimes create quite a panic.

Bees and wasps have no desire to sting. They only use their stings as a last resource, when they are attacked or flustered. This is specially true of bees, for a bee knows quite well that when he stings, he loses his life.

A bee can only sting once and then dies. A wasp can sting several times, but he doesn’t want to. He has a gentle, peaceable disposition – not nearly so menacing as a mosquito, who loves to get a bite out of you if he can.

If a wasp settles on you, don’t get excited but brush it lightly away. As long as you don’t frighten it, it is very unlikely that it will sting.

If, by any mischance, you do get stung by a wasp or a bee, ammonia is the best antidote. If it is applied at once and at frequent intervals after being stung, very little trouble will result.

[From the Watford Observer of August 6, 1932]

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