As a summer camp counselor at nature day camps for 15 years, I am no stranger to the danger of ground-nesting wasps. My fellow counselors and I used to recall bee-sting incidents like war stories. “Do you remember the time we got hit twice in one day? Poor Alexis got stung in the arm and the leg. And Jackson got one stuck in his shirt, he got hit over and over.” Multiple-sting incidents, as we called them, were rare. But one thing they had in common was that a nest was always involved. We prepared as best we could, but in addition to the ice packs and After Bite we traveled with, our most effective defense was some orange flagging tape.
In the forests of Ossining, NY, my fellow counselors and I communicated by radio when we discovered a nest. “We’ve got one in the big log next to the boat house. This is going to be one to watch out for.” News of recently discovered nests traveled fast. We would use flagging tape to mark the location of nests as we found them. All of the camp children knew what orange tape meant, so once a nest was found and the boundaries were established, they rarely got stung.
In the majority of cases, we were able to locate nests without anyone stepping on them. When I entered a new area in the forest with my camp group, I always scanned for wasps. If I spotted one, I would visually track it as it flew through the forest and if I thought it entered a hole in the ground, I would immediately quarantine the area. I was especially vigilant in good wasp habitat, including wetlands, ponds, and streams.
I tried to engrain these same habits in the camp groups I supervised. Children knew to be on the lookout for bees and wasps, and if they saw one, to come get me. By engaging my campers and empowering them to help find nests, they were learning important awareness skills that would keep them safer and more comfortable in the forest.
Only in extreme cases, such as when nests were near a trail and posed a significant and likely hazard, did we resort to removing the nests. Bees and wasps are a natural part of our ecosystem, and ultimately, we must find a way to coexist with our stinging neighbors. By understanding wasps and being aware of your surroundings, you can reduce your chances of getting stung and more safely and confidently enjoy your time outdoors.