Wasp: Respectful Engagement

Mid Summer: I noticed what looked to be a very busy ground nest of tiny bees at the base of an Azalea shrub near our house. They were not aggressive toward me in any capacity, even when I was near their nest. Even though I am not allergic to bees, I thought about how my husband almost died years ago due to a wasp sting. Getting to the hospital in time saved his life.

Aware of this fatal allergy, I went into meditation and approached the bees with love and peace. I asked if they would be open to a conversation. In my mind's eye, I was immediately escorted underground to the Queen. I consciously held the space of love with them, extended gratitude for their lives, and asked if we could live in harmony together here. I said I would do my very best to leave this shrub undisturbed and would they please allow us to garden and go about the yard in peace as well.

My sense was that she was open to the arrangement but would be watching me closely to see how I honored it, which I completely understood. I thanked her for her time and closed the meditation.

As the days passed, I became very curious about what kind of bees they were, but all I could see of their blurry, zigzaggy moving little bodies were thin black and yellow stripes. Each time I would walk by their nest, I sent love and appreciation.

Some days later, I happened to see one at the front porch, moving slow enough for me to get a closer look...they were little yellow jackets, from the wasp family. My heart sank, as those are among the kind that could kill my husband. I basically knew two things about wasps at that point in time: that they are integral to a healthy ecosystem, and that they will sting if feeling threatened.

Knowing my husband would be understandably concerned about being stung, he would want to have the nest destroyed. I went back into mediation to visit with the queen and sat with her in my sadness. In complete honesty, I explained to her the situation and asked if there is any way that she and the hive could scout out another place to live where humans wouldn't bother them; one that would not be here on our little property.

She explained that with winter so close, it would be risky and too big of a job to move now. I asked if it would be possible to scout for a place now and move in spring. I felt like she considered that to be a possibility.

During this conversation with her, I was crying because I could imagine that they were quite unwelcome in many places. I didn't want to be the human who couldn't live in harmony with them. But I felt, in this situation, that I had to be that human, because a family member could die if the hive felt threatened. My husband has a healthy respect for all life; but to keep himself safe, he always places several wasp traps around the yard each summer. The queen mentioned that she was aware of them.

While she and I were engaged in this meditation, I kept imagining myself as a pink heart radiating love and appreciation to them. Since I could not contain my sadness, that came out as well. I needed to ensure that my husband was safe, and I also needed to ensure that this hive could live in peace. I was concerned that any exterminator would have to kill the hive to remove it, and I really wanted them find another home so that killing them could be avoided.

As the next few days passed, I started feeling better about this solution with the wasps. She had agreed to scout out a new location and we could all live in peace together until then. A few mornings later, we woke to increased activity in the yard...wasps all over, buzzing with such focus to task.

My intuition was suggesting that this was the wasps changing gears from tending their current nest to the new focus of scouting. But with my husband so allergic, he had an understandably intense concern of being stung. The interesting thing is that even when we were out in the yard, we were left alone amid all this activity. We both continuously extended love and respect for them, even in our worry.

I must confess that I started to develop a fear of “what if”, and I felt the need to place a call in to the exterminators so that I could be ready for a possible situation of aggression (although the aggression could easily be seen as coming from us in the form of wanting them elsewhere). My heart told me that all was well, but my mind had to also consider my husband. My desire with the exterminators and with the inter species communication was to gather information from many sides so that my scope of understanding would broaden and thereby inform my navigation along the way.

The exterminator who came to inspect the nest concluded that these were dangerous and aggressive, in his experience, and that we should spray the nest to kill it. I asked him about digging it up rather than spraying poison. He said that no extermination service that he knows of will dig up a wasp nest; far too risky to the person digging. Well, killing the nest with poison felt wrong to me, and his assessment seemed so contrary to my current experience. I wanted more information at this point and a kinder solution for everyone.

I talked again with the queen and conveyed my appreciation, my respect and my request that they please move immediately, because with all this extra activity, I just couldn't risk my husband getting stung. I told her that we were considering removing the nest, and that even though she had told me any move now could be risky, that I would rather them move with the possibility to live in peace than die at our hands.

In my mind, I shared with her a visual of 10 acres across the street that was mostly untouched. I offered that this may be a wonderful place for them, and that the proximity might offer a quicker and easier move. I also asked Gaia to show them beacons of welcome to guide them to the perfect spot. I told her that the exterminators would come to survey our yard and her nest, but that I would do my best to give her a week to move. I sensed that her response was that she would look into it.

In the past year, I had come across four interspecies communicators that I have a deep appreciation of: Anna Breytenbach, Pea Horsley, Suzan Vaughn, and Nancy Windheart. In this particular instance, I worked with Suzan Vaughn. She was able to learn that the queen did, in fact, hear my communication, and appreciated the respect that we came to her and her hive with. The queen said that she had no problem moving, and had found a big tree over on that 10 acres that she and the hive are currently moving to.

Suzan said that the queen also asked that we be aware of the changing climate of the earth, and how it is causing some confusion and shifts in their species' seasonal rhythms. The queen asked that we give her the week to complete this move and to know that there may be a few who stay, but we should see much less activity in a week. The queen said that she would like to have all of them come over, but she understands that some may not.

She asked that we dig up the nest rather than use toxic chemicals if they are offered. The queen also asked if there was a way to move the nest to the new property once dug up so as to offer a move both in physical representation as well as energetic. Unfortunately I was at a loss as to how to dig up a live nest on my own. She said that if I do it in my heart/mind instead, then that intention is appreciated all the same...so I took a moment in that conversation to center myself and with my mind/heart, I visualized lovingly placing the current nest in the ground at the base of the tree she showed me.

The wasps asked about a food source and if they could still come visit the yard to gather nectar and food, but would bring it back to their new home. I said yes, absolutely. I showed them a visual of the plants in our yard that would be available for them should they desire. I then asked in prayer that Gaia provide wonderful food sources for them in their new location as well.

The queen conveyed that she had received mixed emotions and energy from me in prior conversations, and I confirmed that it was due to my mixed feelings of saddness, concern, and appreciation. She conveyed that she understands and that she really is fine with moving. I asked if she and her hive would be able to create shelter before winter so that they would be protected, and she felt they will come in just under the wire but will be fine. Mostly, she appreciated the respect and love that we came to her with; and that was one of the reasons she was so willing to do this.

At this point, I felt that harmony would prevail in this space. I felt that a big step was taken in cultivating heart-centered connection, even if the end result was that the parties involved might not be able to live in the same space.

Suzan was such a blessing to work with and helped to bring in much clarity for this conversation.

So, at this point, the wasps were underway in moving. I was happy to witness this, but became very concerned the next day when the whole yard filled with even more activity. I wasn't sensing aggression, but rather a bit of chaos and of being a little frazzled. Being late summer at this point, food and resources for a new home were scarce for the wasps. I could sense that this new move put them into a situation of having to exert a phenomenal amount of energy into a task that they would not normally do. This was depleting an already limited resource within their bodies.

My husband had to walk through this buzz of activity multiple times each day to and from his car. Because I would never be able to forgive myself if he got stung, I called a different exterminator to come out. His arrival happened to time well with the end of the week that the queen asked for. The exterminator, James, ended up being a budding entomologist with a great love of all critters and insects.

He and I watched the nest up close and personal for some moments, with great interest, noting that the wasps remained non-agressive even while conveying a little annoyance at us that we were literally in their way as they were trying so hard to take on the task of moving. James felt that we could just leave them alone, as most of them would die over winter anyway, and any new queens would look elsewhere to start a new hive in spring. But with my husband's allergy to their stings and their very apparent presence all over the front yard, he suggested that we could sparingly spray a deterrent in the shrub and at the entrance of the ground nest that would encourage them to go elsewhere.

All things considered, I felt that this was the kindest and most considerate approach for all parties. I asked him to spray the deterrent and I said a prayer as he did. Within moments the swarm was lessening. Within 5 minutes, the yard was quiet. I watched the stream of wasps that had created a flight line from the azalea to the new tree across the street fade away until it was completely absent.

In my deep sadness, I had to find peace with the queen's comment that there would be some who wouldn't relocate. I had honored the time frame agreed to, even though in the end I used a chemical to deter. She had honored the move so that all could live in peace. The wasps could now focus on their new nest. My husband was safe. The wasps could come back next year to forage but would live elsewhere. It became a balance that needed to be found. To this day, I hope it was in right relationship with everyone involved.

Sometimes difficult choices need to be made. And I fully believe that the more we engage our heart and mind in finding the best solution for everyone, the more we can come to walk that path with appreciation and courage. This was difficult. I did not want to harm them. But I also felt that there needed to be a shift in how we all share the space. I am so thankful that the queen and the hive were open to this arrangement and for her patience with us.

I learned how powerful fear can be, as was seen in my calling the exterminators and in the choosing to spray. I was also able to witness how powerfully an open mind can educate that fear when we allow it to, as I witnessed the non-aggression of the wasps, true to the queen's word.

As Suzan often finds, the animals that come into our lives in these types of ways have a message for us about the inner working of our life, what we are experiencing or perhaps struggling with. In this case, I happened to look up Wasps in the book, Animal Wise, by Ted Andrews. He gives information about wildlife, their lifestyle, cycles, and the symbolism that it lends to self introspection. In his book, he also poses questions to ask ourselves in regard to a particular animal's presence. This was very helpful in my becoming aware of why my garden and my life had become a vibrational match for what Wasp was doing there. It began to make so much sense! What a blessing to come to this awareness. It helped me to more directly engage certain aspects of my life that I was not aware were playing out.

I am finding that the world of Nature (of which we are part) is often quite receptive to meeting respectfully and genuinely. Of course, we all have the right to make our own choices, even when we have heard someone else's perspective on things. Sometimes we can all find a really great solution that works for everyone. Sometimes we may need to make decisions that don't feel good to everyone.

I believe that it is very possible to cultivate a life where quite often we can live in harmony and respect with one another. The more we can allow grace to lead our vulnerability and awkwardness in an experience, the more we can invite growth and deeper connection, ultimately contributing to the loving investment of all.

Munay

Kimberly Logan

Harmonic Luminosity

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