The Hive by Chipka
Close
Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.
Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
Description
For reasons I have yet to understand, I worked outdoors today: not a bad thing until temperatures of 91 degrees F (31 degrees C) are factored into the equation of the day. It’s been a hectic week as well—with standard Chicago drama and an impending Family Reunion. I don’t actually like family reunions. They’re a necessary social function, I suppose, but there should be less of a sense of obligation involved in attending them. Ah, but they are like happy funerals (with casual dress.) You go, because you have to, and if you’re the black sheep of the family, you hang out near the open bar: not because of the need for a good stiff one, but because the presence of alcohol (even if it’s unconsumed) demands a certain personal-space perimeter. If your family is like mine, people will always avoid the guy who knows his vodka.
With all of this swirling through my mind, I moved boxes in hot and humid weather, pretending I hadn’t heard the heat warnings spewed out of speakers at home and in every public place I found. I pretended that family reunions were something I’d invented for a story intended to reveal the complexities of a particularly twisted (vaguely superstitious) culture. It helped in moving boxes in hot weather, but not for long.
I’m quite sensitive to humidity and heat. I get cluster headaches, and for anyone who’s ever been shot in the eye with a .38 Magnum at close range, you know what a cluster headache feels like. Sort of. I'd felt that particular little bugger coming on since early morning, and so I'd flooded my system with caffeine and at the onset of the headache, popped a couple of Migraine grade Excedrin gel-capsules.
Claiming the need to take a break due to the sudden outbreak of pain, I found myself seeking shade, a cool spot, and somewhere soft and comfortable to prop my head. I found the innards of a hulking trailer crammed with boxes, furniture, and other odds and ends. It’s the same trailer that houses a number of yellowjacket nests, and as Fate would have it…I found shelter, rest, shade, and a breeze just a few feet below a young and vigorous colony. Ah! Blissful comfort! (People leave you alone when you have a halo of wasps buzzing around your head, and the wasps themselves are good company as long as they don’t mistake you for a tasty caterpillar: they usually don’t.)
Because of the pain reliever and caffeine in my system, the aforementioned headache didn’t last long. That was a good thing, since I now had wasps to enjoy.
In watching them, I thought of family reunions, the movement of boxes on a hot and humid day, and—as such thoughts wandered through my mind—I discovered one of the wasps in question, moving in an oddly familiar way. She seemed to have quite an interest in turning in circles, wiggling her abdomen, then turning in the opposite direction. I’ve seen bees doing this, and this method of “dance” is a well-documented aspect of bee communication. The circle-wiggle-circle movement is the way in which bees give navigational advice to other members of the colony: telling them where the best flowers grow and how far away they are. I can’t be absolutely sure that yellowjackets employ the same form of gesture-driven communication, but from what I saw, it certainly seems that way. Needless to say, once this family reunion thing is over, I’m revisiting this particular wasp nest. I’ll attempt to see if I can see one or more of these ladies doing the navigational dance. I’d be quite pleased if my first observation proves a correct one, and that yellowjackets are far more talkative—in a relative sense—than I’d originally thought. We’ll see….
I postworked this shot a bit, just to see how it would turn out. I kinda like it this way.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.
Comments (17)
cv1
Great close up! I don't get cluster headaches but my sister-in-law does she said they are the worst so my sympathy but you did geta great picture!
KatesFriend
You are a lot braver than I am. I really can not stand being so close to wasps in general, let alone one of their nests. Though I have to admit that this has been a good summer for them. And bees - lots of bees at my end of the Great Lakes this year. The heat and humidity has generated a veritable bonanza of pollen - something that gives me headaches when it gets into the air may I say, pass the Tylenol. Though the wild flowers and other local fauna have been particularly impressive this summer - there has to be an up side. By the way, I wish my family reunions came with a bar. I'll have to suggest that the next time my clan tries to put aside some issues in order to make nice. Then again, given our Irish, Welsh and Scotish backgrounds, maybe that would not be such a bright idea. Cheers!
myrrhluz
I think I've mentioned before that I don't love yellow jackets ever since one stung me when I was a child and my leg swelled up. But I can see they have their uses. Too bad you can't beam the hive to above the bar, then you wouldn't have to talk to a soul and could get some great shots too. Yellow Jackets and Disaronno. I'm very sorry you're getting hit with the cluster headaches, though glad you saw the last one coming and were able to prepare a bit. It's getting quite hot here too. Tomorrow we are forecast to have a high of 97 with heat index of 104. It hasn't hit the hundreds in actual temperature here yet this year, which is better than last. Great read! Very interesting about the dance of the yellow jacket! From a distance, I can find them quite fascinating. Excellent image! The ones with there heads in the hive remind me of ducks in the water (not all swimming though) with their heads below the surface. They do have pretty (from a distance) stripes and spots. I like your postwork! Great textures, light and colors!
mbz2662
YIKES! I'd run in the opposite direction if I found this! Nice shot, considering it is a massive hive of stinging type insects :P For some reason, to me, wasps are much scarier than bees. We are having heat warnings here... triple digits in my part of So. Cal. .... and humidity~ it rained just enough this evening to make it feel like a giant sauna. I find myself wanting to be a couch potato, but things like cooking and chauffeuring still need to be done. I am glad your headache didn't hang around long. I hope it stays away. Having suffered a few migraines I have sympathy for you!! I hope all is well~
auntietk
Clearly, you need to move to Seattle. 1. We have wasps, bees, slugs, snails, woodlice, beetles, and other assorted critters that will hold your attention for long periods of time. 2. The temperature today was in the high 70s (perhaps as high as 80F). At 10:30 tonight it was 60F and 64% humidity. We have two weeks of really crappy-hot weather here every summer, and it comes in three-day spurts during July and August. (Last Thursday it hit 92F and 40% humidity and everyone whined a lot.) In the winter it rarely dips below 20F. Snow generally melts after about three days. 3. None of your family members live here, and it's too far to reasonably expect you will return for a family reunion. 4. Coffee. Did I mention the coffee? We have several kinds, so if you don't like that one, we have this one over here. 5. If you did get a cluster headache here, there are many pain relievers available in the area. :D
helanker
Well I dont actually love whasps, but I do not have so much against them, as they have the right to live too :-) I just dont like, when they think I made my lunch for their sake. Chip this is a wonderful capture and I liked your story around it, only I am sorry you had such a headache and good it vanished again.
kgb224
As always outstanding work my friend.
durleybeachbum
Now THAT is an interesting question! I must find out if it's been documented in our population. Super shot.
flavia49
fabulous image!! I know what a migraine is, so I sympatize with you!!
MrsRatbag
I admire your bravery for voluntarily parking yourself under this nest. And I second Tara in proposing a location change for you! Nice work, Chip!
Revelation-23
Never heard of cluster headeaches before... but I get migraines and they seem very similar and being outside with one is far from pleasant, especially when it's hot. Who knows, maybe I get these too, or one of the other types of headaches - if not more than one, since they don't all feel the same, except that they hurt like hell and sometimes all I can do is curl up and wait for it to back off a bit before doing anything. Nothing I take really helps, but it can help make things slightly more tolerable, which isn't saying much. I can't say that I know what getting shot in the eye is like, though. Not something I care to experience either. I'm wary of being around stingy insects, but as long as you don't provoke them and move fairly slow, I think you're going to be okay. Not sure exactly what you're looking for in the bees' dance, unless you're expecting the insect equivalent of a line dance, conga line, mosh pit or whatever. But who knows, you might stumble across something.
castro2007
Ive been stung by a few yellow jackets in my lifetime, your brave enough to take this cool picture, u deserve a 10!!!!!!!!!!!
minos_6
We've had similar weather to you recently, with a peak at 31C over the last few days. Parts of Germany had had 40C temperatures last week! Pity to have to suffer cluster headaches, but thankfully this one passed without too much discomfort, and contributed to this beautiful find.1 I like your post work here - it's subtle and most effective! With regards to your family reunion, I know exactly what you mean, although in my case there's been no need to endure one of these bizarre family rituals for some time now, since I'm black sheep enough not to be invited!
lick.a.witch
Wasps here, (Cornwall), are mostly seen in August. I've not seen one 'dance' like bees do, but I suppose if they have found a good supply of food, it is not surprising that they would share the knowledge with the rest of the hive. This is a really stunning image and once again, the narrative is a plus! ^=^
lucindawind
fantastic shot ! its amazing to watch them work
praep
Oh yeah - your a brave man to get so close to them. I see some hives like this but mostly empty after a long winter. When they are alive I'm not sure I would go this close. Great image.
Bothellite
You are undoubtedly one of the most inquisitive people I'm ever met (read) and you even have a love for wasps. Poor maligned creatures. They were immensely important in our commercial apple operation. Best insecticide replacement I can think of. I never killed a nest (and hoped to find them before they found me getting too close) unless it was absolutely necessary to protect kids, for instance. And there were several species to enjoy as well. Great read!!