• AnxiousDuck@feddit.it
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    10 hours ago

    Fuck, I entered a bakery in Vienna once that was flooded with wasps everywhere. I asked about it and the person just went 🤷‍♀️. Still haunts me.

    • FreeWilliam@lemmy.ml
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      6 hours ago

      Whenever I go to Germany it’s the same thing! What is it with european bakeries and wasps? Wait a second… the europeans must be undercover wasps and they let and don’t mind the wasps eating their food because they’re their kind! It all makes sence now!

      • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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        6 hours ago

        Do they just like, not have screens over there? I stayed in Germany once and the whole house had no screens on the windows, then I started noticing that I couldn’t see them anywhere I went.

  • Komodo Rodeo@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Serious question, are the wasps as likely to get diarrhea eating that as I think they are, and will the hive reject them at the entrance if they’re doing the insect equivalent of shitting their pants the way hives do with drunks?

  • rmuk@feddit.uk
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    1 day ago

    Can’t say I’d be delighted about this, but they’ll very quickly leave when the food’s disturbed and wasps - like bees - don’t leave behind diseases or eggs. The same cannot be said for flies - if those were flies I wouldn’t touch anything in the shop.

    • Enkrod@feddit.org
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      7 hours ago

      And wasps will kill any fly that dares come close. Only thing they like more than sugar is protein.

    • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      My experience with wasps are different. They’ll fucking attack you it you’re anywhere near their food.

      • vxx@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Africanised bees will be like that, but we don’t really have them in europe as far as I know.

        Wasps usually only get really stingy if you disturb their nest or come way too close to it.

        You’ll find wasps in almost any bakery in summer. Also in and around garbage cans.

        You grab the pastry and they will usually fly away and settle onto the next one a bit later.

        • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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          7 hours ago

          There seems to be a vast gulf here. American wasps will fukin attack you for fun. So you kill them first.

          • vxx@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            Do they really attack on sight?

            Here it’s usually that they seek out the breath because of the monoxide and people start panicking because the ly fly into their face and seemingly wont go away. So they Start swinging their arms at the wasp and it feels in danger and attacks.

            Easiest solution is to hold breath and walk away if they bother you.

            • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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              6 hours ago

              If you are too close to the nest, they will send out scouts, and then you can expect an attack. Kill them first.

              • vxx@lemmy.world
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                4 hours ago

                That’s true and it’s kind of bad to have them where you’re walking daily. That’s when I would do something as well.

                I already said that in my first comment.

                Theyre an important part of the ecosystem though. Pest killer number one. If there’s constantly wasps settling near you, there’s a reason.

          • vxx@lemmy.world
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            7 hours ago

            I’m from germany, and it indeed is in summer, even in large cities. Wasps come in with the customers and wont leave.

              • vxx@lemmy.world
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                6 hours ago

                Apparently that’s a myth according to every source I could find about wasps in the US.

                They seek out your breath, so people start panicking swinging wildly and running away, which in return might be considered a threat for the wasp.

                Hold your breath and walk away.

                Killed wasps on the other hand attract other wasps out for revenge, if the nest is somewhere nearby.

                • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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                  6 hours ago

                  The nest is my primary target. Cover up, knock it down, destroy it, walk away for a bit, they all leave. Fuk wasps.

                  Hmm. When you consulted “every source I could find about wasps in the US” apparently you chose to disregard the direct feedback of people on the front line. Hmm.

  • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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    2 days ago

    What is it with European bakeries and bees? I’ve seen memes and stuff about it, and this one youtuber, a Vietnamese woman who’s German BF never shows his face, I can’t remember her name right now. She showed a bakery in Germany with bees everywhere. Why is this a thing?

    • go $fsck yourself@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I’ll never understand why people call wasps “bees”. They are extremely different. It’s like calling deer “horses”. Why is this a thing?

        • Sirence@feddit.org
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          5 hours ago

          A bee is not a type of wasp. They are both Hymenoptera, one of the 4 types of insects, but that would be the same as saying a dog is a type of human because both are Eutheria.

      • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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        1 day ago

        Ya, that’s an odd odd thing. I know people that live around actual bees, watching the commercial hives swarm in the fields during pollination. They really know what bees are. And then when a wasp shows up, they are like “Fukin BEES!!!” and break out with a can of poison.

    • I think those are actually wasps. It’s particularly common in countries like Germany and Luxembourg where native wasps are protected species. As for Poland and other parts of Europe, it’s hard to keep them out when you keep the doors propped open in lieu of central AC (and they’re attracted to the fresh sugar), and wasps and bees don’t transmit disease anyway, so people just get used to them

    • needanke@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      Compared to (my impression of) north America I think there are some contributing factors:

      • Less sprawl: Bakeries are usually in a town/neighborhood (which has more nature compared to the US, therefore also more insects) and not surrounded by a huge parking lot where no wasps would live. There are also many neigbouhring properties with different owners/occupants. So their nest might nor be on your property or even somewhere where you’d be able to locate it.
      • (more) indipendent shops: I see waaaay less wasps in the baked good section in supermarkets here as well. Bakeries are usually not huge so it is just a short distance for the wasps to fly in a confinded space. Bakeries are also not usually airconditioned which would probably irritate wasps.
      • conservation laws: Wasps are considerd a protected species in Germany and catching, harming or killing them without a proper reason can carry a fine of up to 5-65k€ depending on the kind of wasp and the state. In general wasp nests can only be moved by professional and licenced exterminators (and they only do it when necessary, like the nest being near a kindergarten or in an occupied builduing).
    • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org
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      2 days ago

      Wouldn’t traps near the food be a bigger concern than wasps taking a bite? Idk I live in Germany so I might be desensitized. The way I see it wasp-free pastry is preferable but if they decide to help themselves then oh well. They don’t soak the food in spit and they don’t lay eggs on it, they just nibble.

      • ComfortableRaspberry@feddit.org
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        1 day ago

        When eating outside we sometimes set up an “Opferteller” with left overs and put out to the side so the wasps have their thing going on that plate and we can continue to eat. It’s fascinating to watch but at the same time I’m scared shitless since I had a very bad experience with nest defending wasps and my long hair as a child…

        • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org
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          1 day ago

          I do the same thing and then I just move slowly as not to squish or slap them accidentaly. Works much better than shooing them 😄 Wasps have a bad reputation but they’re useful and kinda cool honestly.

          • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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            1 day ago

            Where I live, it is considered a community service to kill wasps. Seriously. Gotta die.

              • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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                1 day ago

                Fascinating. Its not that I have some obsession with killing wasps, but its something I do immediately. When I see nests, I eliminate them. I will tell the property owner, “You’re welcome.”

      • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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        1 day ago

        You’re mad. Out of your mind. That’s not uncommon on the internet. There are many of us.

  • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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    1 day ago

    Ya know, I have to hang my head with a lot of the “Really, America?” shit. Yes, my home is a bit weird.
    But it’s not like we got aaaaaaall the weird.
    It is fukin bizzare to let insects crawl on your food and then desire or use said food in any way other than feeding pigs.

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
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        10 hours ago

        My kids screamed his head off two days ago. There’s ants in the house. I’m like yeah whatever. I go to check it out. There were thousands of ants in the house. They came in through a little spot near the garage went all the way down one wall along another wall straight through the kitchen under the fridge to a single crunchy snack thing that fell onto the floor.

        I’m not too worried about this fly or two or an and or two and I leave spiders alone If they’ve picked a nice quiet corner. But I can’t have thousands of ants in my kitchen.

    • vxx@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Don’t watch videos of raw food material transportation like grain or sugar.

      A bit of shit on our food gives us some needed trace elements.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        24 hours ago

        Most of those things get baked out because of the high temperatures.

        These ones after baking, not so much.

        • vxx@lemmy.world
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          24 hours ago

          I prefer desease free wasp food over pigeon and rat shit in my cooked food.

          I guess in the end I eat both. I try to buy locally whenever possible, but I guess sugar is hard to source locally.

          • rumba@lemmy.zip
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            9 hours ago

            To be perfectly honest, local isn’t any better as far as pests. There’s never been a rat free grain or corn silo. Presumably you could get pretty close to clean if you refined the sugar out of beets, But they grow in the ground in the dirt with all the insects and pests…

        • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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          24 hours ago

          Cooking is good. I wash my vegetables. And my meat for that matter, although that’s strangely not recommended.

      • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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        1 day ago

        This is not true. We have stores with flies. I don’t go to those stores.
        As for wasps, I understand there are legal restrictions here. Boy, that is pretty strange. For wasps. Wasps do just fine without our help.

        • Vinstaal0@feddit.nl
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          1 day ago

          Tell me your secret on how to get these things out of a building, it’s already freaking hard in a house where the door doesn’t open every 5 minutes.

          Flies or wasps are also a completely different thing. The worst/only thing that can happen with wasps is that one doesn’t move away when you take a bite and stings you.

          Edit: yes I know mosquito nets etc will help against flies, but that generally doesn’t help in a store (depending on the type of door even impossible). Plus once they open insects like to get in with the people at the same time and even if nothing opens they tend to find a way in a lot of buildings.

          • humorlessrepost@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            Tell me your secret

            In the US, many stores with food (grocery stores, restaurants) have what’s essentially a crappy pressurized airlock. You go through one set of doors, above which is an outward-facing blower, into a small room with higher pressure, then through another set of doors. The airlock is also often filled with hidden bug zappers, but even without them, insects getting in would be drastically reduced.

          • dbtng@eviltoast.org
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            1 day ago

            Well, that’s the nice thing about civilization. We get to divide up labor into specialties. I don’t own a bakery, so I don’t have the secret you’ve inquired about. I get to choose which places I shop, and I make sure its places without bugs. If I have a secret at all, its the power of the purse.