Being an advocate for any Hymenopteran that isn't a honeybee is so exhausting. I saw someone post a picture of a queen Vespa crabro on Reddit, and to my dismay, I saw a comment stating to "kill every one because they kill honeybees which are vital to the ecosystem." I tried to politely educate them, but these situations often seem futile, as they retaliated with a very rude and ignorant comment. Someone else agreed with me, to which I replied and said that honeybees compete with native pollinators, and can spread diseases to native bees and wasps as well. I also defended wasps and native pollinators because they are more crucial to the ecosystem. For some reason that comment got downvoted. I just find it amazing how so many people are uneducated when it comes to nature in general, but especially towards wasps and other Hymenopterans. It's definitely an uphill battle, and quite discouraging. I couldn't just ignore that comment however, since it was totally misinformed, and I felt it was necessary to provide some education, even if it fell on deaf ears. It will be so refreshing to see the day where someone posts a photo of a wasp and the general consensus isn't to immediately eradicate it. I'm so tired.
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