Hornets vs wasps

[rana]

I have a wasp nest in my roof. The wasps enter through a hole in the soffit. This morning I observed a hornet hanging around the entrance and after about 20 minutes of sniffing around it went in through the wasp nest entrance. All the time wasps were coming and going and showed no distress at the presence of the hornet. I did not see it emerge and the wasps carried on as normal.

I am not concerned about the wasp nest and plan to remove it in the late autumn but what is the hornet up to - has anyone any knowledge of this apparently suicidal behaviour.

[beesontoast]

Hornets are tough cookies, and they are at least twice the size of a wasp. They can snip the head off a wasp or bee with ease, and a couple of dozen hornets can cause a great deal of damage to the nests of either of rgeir smaller cousins.

Check out this video if in doubt!

Hornets From Hell

[Cloud]

Thats scary.Had some of them buggers in my garden but didn't know what they were.
NOW I DO!!!!

[quark1]

I trust that you have a removal process underway?

You really DO NOT want a wasp nest and its inhabitants residing cheek by jowl in or around your home.

I had a nest removed/treated a few years back which was 'estimated' at being the size of a football - the same exterminators were dealing with another infestation not 400 yds away which was fully 3ftx4ft in size and growing, if no action was taken. My 'man' said that my 'football' would grow to this size within weeks if not treated.

Please take urgent action to get removed.

[Tam]

I'm afraid I've lived quite happily "cheek by jowl" with wasps for many years. They can be a bit of a nuisance in the late summer when they eat the plums, but I always reckon they earn that by their early season diet !

[di]

I'd agree with Quark that you really don't want to be keeping a wasp nest near the house& if there's any signs that hornets are taking over then double the urgency of getting it removed!!

[smallblueplanet]

We had a wasps nest in the eaves last year - they were not a problem at all once I left them alone. The nest is still in the loft, its pretty big but will not be used again by the wasps. Wasps do not return to the same nest again. I've blocked the hole to the eaves and so thats that.

As I said on another thread, they didn't bother us any more than the odd one or two 'dozy' ones that we always get in autumn anyway. I feel a bit bad for spraying them with chemicals (which didn't work) in the first place. If they're not in the way, leave 'em be and later on block up the hole so they can't get in again.

[rana]

Thanks for all the advice - the killer hornet film was pretty scary - but that was Japanese giant hornets. The wasps are still behaving normally (and yes they are eating my plums too) and not bothering anyone so I will leave them alone for now.

[Nicos]

Scary video beesontoast!!!!

We're thinking of getting bees if we move to France- and there are a couple of hornets nests in the nearby field. Might have to think again- it would be heart -breaking for the hive to be attacked like that.
Poor little things.

[lynda66]

we had a wasp nest in the eaves last year, they couldn't get into the loft, so i just left them, they never came in the house, and just flew round and did their thing, so we just left them, and they didn't come back this year, the nest is still there, as there is no access to it ....... as long as they aren't bothering anyone i'd leave them, they do eat caterpillars.

[Pumpkin Becki]

Jeez! That was like a video nasty Beesontoast! I've been looking at your top bar hives, but I don't fancy a hornet invasion - are they after the honey or a new home when they attack a hive like that?

[HeyWayne]

Earlier in the year I was sorting out my shed and building some shelving and generally having a tidy up. I kept hearing this buzzing noise and noticed a wasp hovering around. Left him bee (see what I did there) and carried on about my business.

Anyway, I heard him fly in again and again so I wondered what he was up to. I followed his flight and saw that he'd started to build a nest just above the door. I watched him for a while and was fascinated at the intricacy of the thing he was building.

You can see it at the bottom of the page on my blog.

I fealt really guilty when I knocked it off - it would have been like someone coming into my shed and knocking down the shelving that I'd built that afternoon.

[Tam]

About six years ago we had no wasps, but plenty of caterpillars and some other nasties.
I don't know why this happened as we have them every year normally.