As a kid(just beyond toddler) a cousin and I were going to build a treehouse. The selected site was an old, large Chinese elm previously chosen as a nesting site by all the wasps(yellow jackets) we had chased away from the eaves and trees surrounding my grandparents old Victorian 2 story. We had been using plaster lathes and pump sprayers. For the tree we found a keyhole saw and had cleaned all but one(?!) nest from the tree. It was probably the base for all the others elders as it was huge by our experience, 10-14" across. My cuz decided that was my job, so up I went and cradling in a fork on the back side and reaching around the trunk, I began to saw the twig like branch. It began to bounce around and the denizens began in earnest to scout out the cause of this disturbance. Being a little clumsy with the sawing due to the cradling and stretching around, the nest remained intact and I was soon discovered there so that by the time I climbed(skittered) down the tree and ran fast for the house I realized my Mighty Mouse T shirt was keeping several stinger slingers covered against my chest. After a failed swatting attempt, at about halfway to the house 150' away, I stopped after jerking the Mighty Mouse to the ground and counting 10 fresh whelps, I realized that there was no reason for all the screaming and panic as there was no pain and for many years afterward the sting if a wasp was more like a tickle.
