Can't speak of ground Wasps (all the wasps I know are either Mud Wasps who build fairly obvious and wonderfully elongated nests, on the side of your house, or along window sills, and you can hear them buzzing in them or those amazing White Faced Hornets - aka baldfaced hornets - , which build those magnificent 2 foot long structures. I have one on my upper porch that I took from a branch 20 years? ago now? And have transported in my car from NY, to NC to where we now live in TN. Their homes last FOREVER! Like the pyramids! I mean seriously. This thing is at least 20 years old. And obviously I thought it magnificent enough to take with me wherever I went. To me it's an art form of it's own. You'd have appreciate the creature and it's building to understand why we took it with us and kind of cherish it.)
The only ground nests I've come up against are Yellow Jacket nests - ONCE when yanking out a 5 foot weed I pulled up a major portion of the nest, (stung 15 times all over my back) and having been weed wacking and also disturbed their nests. But they are VERY ACTIVE bees. If you're not seeing any activity - that's a whole different scenario. They are not Yellow Jackets.
Legend I'm sorry your mom got stung. I've also been stung numerous times by wasps. The interesting thing about wasps and yellow jackets (for those who don't know) is that they can sting you MULTIPLE times. Honey bees, for example lose their stinger and die after stinging you because they have barbs on their stingers which pull out their abdomens). Those other buggers don't. I find it ironic that the most beneficial creature - in as far as bee pollination - is the most fragile in that way.
When I was a kid, I used to run barefoot on the lawn and every once in a while I'd get stung on the bottom of my foot by a bee putting it's nose into a piece of clover I trod upon. (Honeybee most probably.) Slapping a bit of mud on it always took the pain away. And even now, I use Ammonia to do that. For those who aren't allergic - just getting a cotton ball full of ammonia and dab it on. Pain and itching will be gone pretty quick. Works for mosquito bites too. (Just check out the ingredient in your OTC bite relief med (if it's not hydrocortisone).)
Just learned something new by snooping on google. I have what I assume is a carpenter bee hole in the plastic frame of my office window. And I've been curious because there has been a wasp going in and out (NOT a carpenter bee). And she's been carrying a LONG piece of grass or something? And I queried "wasp carrying grass" and came up with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWFpVZA7rHw Exactly what I'm seeing except once she's got it in there's no back and forth, in and out, like in that video, she's done! Extraordinary to see this creature with a 2" long piece of grass walking into a hole in your window frame. Talk about a crave buster if you ever needed one! lol It's all about what you choose to focus on!
