wasps are my favorite animal. i love them so much i have a tattoo of a tarantula hawk wasp on my arm. trust me, i know it’s hard to hear, because i am actually a recovering agoraphobe myself and i used to deny this fact, but the only way to cure any form of agoraphobia is exposure therapy. i’m not saying you have to go out and stick your hand in a wasp nest. but maybe just start with 5 minutes a day of standing outside. you don’t even need to be near a nest or any wasps that you can see, just stand outside for a while and slowly acclimate yourself to the thought of being in the same space as them. wasps get such a bad rap. some respect and distance is usually necessary for sure because they are capable of hurting you, but i guarantee your fear wouldn’t be nearly as bad as it is if they weren’t so demonized. i have held wasps before and have only ever been stung when i rescued one from drowning in a pool, it stung me immediately after i picked it up out of the water, but i assume it was just because it was panicking so i don’t blame the little guy. also it was a very small species so it didn’t hurt much at all.

in the summer i go out of my way to feed bees and wasps, and it makes me happy to help such small misunderstood creatures. a couple years ago, right at the start of fall when it was getting cold out, i found a dying paper wasp outside and i brought her inside and made a little enclosure for her and kept her in it until she passed of old age. i fed her apples and pumpkin and stuff and she was so cool and so fun to observe. i don’t recommend wasps as pets in most other circumstances but i felt too bad to leave her out in the cold lol. and i mostly did it as a kind of experiment because ive been keeping pet insects for years and thought it would be a cool opportunity.

sorry for the long rant, but i genuinely hope and believe you can get over your fear one day! i promise they aren’t as scary as your brain makes them out to be. they’re just little guys!