HUG A HORNET! Well, no – don’t actually. But then when David Cameron used a similar strapline to attempt to lessen alienation of youth culture, how many of us actually went out there and physically manhandled someone in a sweatshirt?
Nope, me neither. So, for the next few minutes, think ‘metaphorical hug’ and find a little space in your heart for one of the most irrationally feared insects we seldom see in East Devon.
It was a piece on Radio 4’s Today programme that made me think of this topic, as it was a classic case of the easy scapegoat being blamed rather than the tougher questions being faced.
The recent death of someone from anaphylactic shock, after stepping on a hornet, initiated calls from the House of Lords for control of hornet numbers and the issuing of adrenalin shots to all who are susceptible to anaphylactic shock.
Over reaction? Well, yes. The thing is, hornets are an easily vilified creature whereas the cause of society’s increasing incidence of super-allergy is worryingly unclear.
Although the incident that initiated this media outburst was unarguably tragic, the facts behind the story are far less horrifying. However, it’s the poor hornet that cops the flack. Even though I bet you can’t remember another person dying from a hornet sting?
The truth is that hornets are a large, vividly coloured, aggressive-looking insects with A Sting! Shock-horror! This sting, however, is much milder than commonly feared, the toxin being no more powerful than that of a common wasp. But their size and noise have lead over time to wildly exaggerated claims of their danger, to the point where it was believed that seven hornet stings would kill a horse!
This is definitely not the case and studies have shown hornet stings to be less potent than honey bees. One theory put forward is that a bee’s sting has evolved to defend a hive, with all that precious honey, from attack from animals with a sweet-tooth, normally birds and mammals. On the other hand hornets and wasps are all carnivorous, being predators of insects, so their sting has developed to incapacitate invertebrates effectively. So a wasp can’t waste its toxin, as it needs it to feed – whereas a bee is putting its life on the line when it stings to defend a valuable resource.
Hornets are very much the gentle giants amongst social wasps.
In the UK there are nine different species of social wasp, including the small black and yellow things that interrupt summer picnics. Britain’s common wasp and germanic wasp are the two species you are likely to see people panicking over; flapping wildly, running away and screaming. A response which is only liable to increase your chances of getting stung!
These common wasps are adaptable and able to live in towns and cities with ease, making them by far the most probable wasp you will come across in your daily life. Hornets on the other hand are uncommon in the UK and, where they do exist, they are denizens of deep woodland rather than urban fringe.
I have seen hornets in the wonderful Holyford Woods Local Nature Reserve, but otherwise they are not a common sight around the district. The only times when I have got really good close views is on holiday in continental Europe.
A flowering magnolia was providing hunting opportunities for the local hornets and the sight of 20 or so of these magnificent insects, buzzing loudly round the tree, was quite incredible!
I have to admit my heartbeat was racing as I approached, but the allure to get a closer look was just too much.
As long as you do not interfere with the hornets you can get very close without being in any danger of getting stung. One even landed on my arm as it staked out the tree.
So hornets are just getting on doing what they have done for hundreds of thousands of years, clearing up woodlands of dead or dying insects. We, on the other hand, have a much more troublesome problem to deal with; and its not big, buzzy and stripey; and its not (yet) been the subject of a Holywood horror film.
Why, exactly, are cases of allergy becoming commoner? Speculation ranges from diet to modern sanitation and the rise of the antibacterial surface wipe (if anything was a more cynical marketing ploy in advertising history I’d like to know about it). But the fact remains, more people are hypersensitive and anaphylaxis is becoming more widespread.
Before we reach for the fly-spray, perhaps we should have a little look at the ingredients list and think what the cocktail of chemicals is doing to the human inhabitants of the house as well as the vespulids.
A couple of weeks ago the District Council launched a new educational resource, as part of the year of food and farming, to bring local farming into the classroom.
The Food 4 Thought project kept me very busy during the summer months, so I wanted to write a feature about its aims here, to explain to some degree why I've not seen as much of East Devon's countryside and wildlife as I may have expected to in 2007!
It all started back last summer… I was boning a shoulder of lamb, because A: I like lamb; B: Shoulder is a little more thrifty; and C: because I can. The thought struck me “I wonder how many people know how to do this?”
Now, don't get me wrong, it's not a difficult process, just a case of following the bones and being careful around the joints. But the thought struck me that as a society, we are becoming increasingly divorced from our food. If it doesn't come in a plastic tray, it isn't edible!
This misconception was further compounded this week when I took Radio 4 collecting prawns from rockpools to turn into a seafood paella. At first they were unsure about the wild ingredients but, when they tasted how good they were (vastly superior to those horrible things flown in from a muddy puddle in Asia), they tucked in with gusto. The programme was Open Country and you can hear how I got on sometime in early November - but I digress.
One thing led to another from my lamb moment and, by January 2007, I found myself in a meeting with Michael Caines and Sir John Cave. I pitched my idea to Michael. I was hellishly nervous, realising that his endorsement could be the difference between the project happening or not. As soon as I mentioned that this was a film to encourage local school children to think about where their food comes from, he was sold. He came up with so many new ideas I couldn't write them down fast enough and, most importantly, he didn't just offer his approval, he offered his time and was happy to appear in the film.
So that was it, as soon as Michael was on-board potential funders were falling over themselves to support the project and, between the District Council, East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership and Natural England, I was able to start to bring the project to life.
I wanted to rewrite a unit from the Key Stage 3 Geography curriculum, looking at consumption, sustainability and food production that had historically used West African cocoa farming as a case study. My thought was that these fundamental geographic principals could easily be demonstrated by looking at local food.
The film was produced with supportive materials and has been greeted with great enthusiasm from teachers across the county who have received Food 4 Thought free of charge.
We were keen to have students presenting the film, with me popping up from time to time to look at some biodiversity issues. Three students were chosen to appear in the film from Exmouth Community College, and the effort, enthusiasm and ability they showed during filming was incredible. They really did make the film.
The first chapter looks at the principals of consumption, sustainability and carbon footprints. The students then get challenged by Michael Caines to find out about local food production and they individually visit a dairy farm making cheese, a fruit farm and a beef farmer.
Then, in the final film, they get together with Michael and cook a special dish with the ingredients they have sourced: rarebit, apple crumble and beefburgers.
I wanted to include this cooking element in the film, to reinforce the message that these are issues we should be thinking about every time we eat. It's not just the special occasion meals, when we go out of our way to buy yummy things. Every time we tuck into a plate of food there's an associated cost in terms of carbon - did you realise six kilos of carbon are pumped into the sky to fly a single pineapple to our shores?
But the film doesn't linger on the negative, as it explores the truly world-class produce that we have in our region. Food 4 Thought is just that - it sets up potential for lively classroom debate and, in the hands of a dynamic teacher, should provide classes with plenty of discussion on the subject of consumption.
So I would like to leave you with a little something to ponder.
Tea. It's our national drink, but we can't grow it over here. It's shipped and flown into the UK in truly vast quantities and, if we were to simply say “no more food imports due to carbon emissions”, we would effectively annihilate several third world economies.
I'm not by any means suggesting drinking alternatives, or even cutting down on cuppas - perish the thought. But it is always good to question things. There's nothing healthier than an enquiring mind; I wonder if that's why I enjoy working with children?