Accepting hornets

[Iceni]

OK, these are not hornets on our property but flying in the garden!

Now the weather is warmer I spend my evenings outside gardening, I work during the day and look forward to the time I spend veggie gardening. We have what looks like a queen hornet coming to get wood from the sleepers around the raised beds where I am working, the funny bit is when she tries to fly through the rabbit fence around the beds as she is too big to get through.

I am paranoid - but as we have no idea where the nest is will have to live with this. I have been back to a link posted on here some time ago and now accept that unless I am near the nest I am in no danger unless I do the 'windmill arms' and start to run - what do I do everytime I see them - yup you have guessed it.

We went for a walk with some friends yesterday and their 5 year old daughter. We saw a worker hornet looking for wood/food in the hedge, they called their daughter over and showed her the hornet and they calmly discussed this and how it lived, I was way up the path, sweating with fear.

Now the mantra is, hornets sting less (pro rata) than bees or wasps and go out of their way to avoid stinging anything that is not food - I just have to keep repeating this to myself over and over again. Oh the good thing is that hornets eat wasps - feel a bit better over that.

Any further help greatfully received - hornets are nearing extinction in most of Europe so I need to get to grips with this.

Di - the paranoid android
http://www.iceni-it.co.uk

[Dick Smith]

Hornets sting less - unless a dozy one decides to have a rest in your shoe and you then stuff your foot in it...

Regards

Dick
BONO ANIMO ES

[Alcazar]

So, are you sure that what you have seen collecting wood is a queen hornet, and not a giant wood wasp?

I think it's more likely to be the latter, for two reasons: hornets are not that much bigger than the larger type of wasps, and the queen only a little bigger than that, so not easy to tell apart, and the queen is unlikely to be nest building.........she has workers for that, she will be egg laying.

The giant wood wasp, however, is solitary, and does indeed look EXACLY like an ordinary wasp, except for two things: their antennae, and legs, are red (red ant colour), and they are WHOPPING...........they can grow up to 6 or 7 cms long!!

On a good note, I've never heard of anyone being stung by one, (but I don't think I'd like to be the first to try it!!)

Alcazar

[Iceni]

OK, I am sitting at the PC and hear the 'buzzing' and what do I see, a nice big hornet INSIDE the room doing the rounds of holes in the wall etc (we have a lot of those, well you do when you are renovating). She finds a nice hole above the door and goes deep inside. Underneath her is our professional hornet spray. I yell for John (big strong man) who comes down and brings his tin, as she is well inside the hole above the door we have no option but to spray and she comes out and flies away.

Tell me, how do they know I am paranoid????

Di
http://www.iceni-it.co.uk