Tag Archives: basis

I worked doing groundskeeping about a year and a half ago. We eradicated nests of wasps on a regular basis. I guess you could say that I got pretty familiar with their habits and behaviors, actions and reactions. A nest in the ground will always leave you alone if your not moving around aggressively or messing with them.
One particular day, I was watching a particularly large nest….not the largest I’d seen, but a good size. I was about 6 ft from the opening, was kneeling down, not moving, just watching— suddenly I felt a sting–that unmistakable burning of a wasp sting, looked down and it was buried in my hand. I was angry. I know you’re not supposed to be angry at nature while it’s performing natural acts, but I was. I went back to the shop to treat the sting and my thoughts were brought to “killer bees”. How did they get that way?…. I couldn’t help but think of evolution. They look like normal bees…but they’re exceptionally ruthless and aggressive. Why did the wasp sting me out of character?….Out of it’s normal behavior?
It seems like if a certain nest of regular bees had an unusally high level of aggression in even just a few of it’s bees, and it were allowed to continue on– based solely on ‘the strongest survive’ it seems inevitable that the nest, over generations, would evolve into something new, something more dangerous. A quote– my quote– came into my head then… : ” If you do not take revenge on nature, then it may evolve into something that you cannot control”. I want to know who understands this, and whether you agree or disagree.
I went back and destroyed the entire nest.