Nature abhors a vacuum

The wasps have moved in to build a nest in Val’s garden

- Val

A COUPLE of weeks ago I wrote about the dunnock’s nest in the winter clematis on the south-facing wall (AG 20 June). The Best Beloved and I abandoned our favourite seat to allow the dunnock to fly back and forth untroubled by us. Since then, the dunnocks have fledged. But I don’t think we’ll be using that seat for some months because wasps have suspended a nest underneath the wooden slats.

The wasps’ nest is hanging down right in the middle of the seat, and growing larger day by day. It proves the old adage that nature abhors a vacuum, a phrase attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle some 2,000 years ago. The great man wasn’t keen on wasps – he said that the wasp has few virtues and no soul.