Asiatic hornets nest

[Hereford]

Good morning

We can see in a tree an asiatic hornets nest. The tree is in the field next door to us but only about 20 or so metres from our house.

The field was owned by someone who lived away (we think he has now died!) but is used by a chap from our village to raise his sheep

.

We will, of course, try to see the sheep owner but in the meantime does anyone know, please, do we just go to the mairie and report this? Our mairie is now only a sub-mairie with a maire delegué but is open a couple of hours a week or we could go to the main commune.

The nest is no problem at the moment but...

Many thanks

H.

[Patf]

Someone in the village had a nest in a tree in their garden, went to the Mairie and they said no need to remove it. They usually leave humans alone, and never come back to the same nest at the end of summer. But if they bother you I think they would call someone in.

But no idea how they could have removed this one - it was the size of a rugby ball, at the top of a tall delicate tree. They would have had to use a gun!

We once had a nest in a hole in the barn wall, but they never bothered us.

[Gardengirl]

A big problem arises when somebody living near the nest is allergic to wasp stings -like I am- can be very nasty, despite having epipens at the ready.

[Hereford]

Thank you for answering.  We will go to the Mairie tomorrow anyway we think. We were fairly sure we had read in the local paper that the nests should be reported.

We don't know if it really is "last year's" nest as we have never seen it before so it might be this year's!!

H.

[Gardian]

I'm pretty sure that you're right too.

Just have a feeling that I read that somebody will come along to destroy them because they're rightly viewed as 'bad guys', but I may be wrong.

You're presumably sure that they are Asiatic Hornets?

[Pommier]

In our commune the council only spray the nests that are on council land, but last year there was quite a to-do about nests bordering a road but on private land. The council refused to spray and the owner said he couldn't afford the cost. I think in the end the council helped with the cost.

[Hereford]

Guardian: Yes we are sure - googled it and the nest photo is exactly what we have. Big ball, pale cream with slits!

A friend who keeps bees (I forgot that he would know) says that we do need to tell the Mairie as they are tracking the movements and will arrange the destruction.  The mairie will know who owns the land (not us!) so if they want paying it will not be our problem - we just report the existence of the nest.

Thanks to all

H.

[Gardian]

Good - do let us know the outcome.

Reluctant as any of us are to welcome the destruction of wildlife, these hornets are a major risk to the indigenous bees (as I understand it), and they need all the protection they can get.

[Pirou]

Hereford, you are looking at an empty nest from last year. I'm told by a beekeeper that Asian hornets are like the native hornet and wasps: only the queens survive the winter ready to start a new nest in spring. They don't return to the nests they were born in. The reason we notice previous years nests in winter is that the trees lose their leaves and the nests become visible. A queen who has just woken up won't have had the time to build a full size nest so you have nothing to worry about.

I like insects but I will be killing any yellow-legged hornets I see.

[Lehaut]

+1 for Pirou. If its rugby ball size, its just normal wasps. We have seen two Asian Hornet wasps during walks in our commune (verified by an inspection conducted by the council). They are huge, nearly a meter in height. We talked to the "owner" of one, he confirmed it was empty.

[Hereford]

We agree that it may be "last year's" nest but wonder when the queen departs to make a new nest. Will she be gone by now?

Mairie (commune not our own delegué one) said: yes a problem but it is for the owner to get rid of it. Neither the mairie nor the pompiers will help.

We will search out the user of the field, who is not the owner, and see what he thinks. He will at least know who the owner is!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

H.

Edit: not remotely like a rugby ball, much, much bigger and circular.

[alittlebitfrench]

These Asiatic hornets are quite harmless..... well unless you disturb the nest

We have loads in the garden and they don't​ bother you.They are quite friendly actually....Unless you are a bee.

We did have the starting of a nest in the roof and it cost 80 euros to get rid of it.

The nest you have is old, they are starting to make their nests now.

[Gardengirl]

lbf said:

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.................or a human who is allergic to their stings, as I mentioned previously.

Nobody knows when they might develope such an allergy - I started with it in my 30s, but with one of our neighbours in France it was a couple of years ago when she was in her 60s. In my case the results have been worse each time I've been stung, luckily not by an Asiatic hornet -yet! It could be youor one of your family next..........

They can be deadly, even carrying epipens.

[alittlebitfrench]

Don't talk to me about allergies Garden girl, I have them all. A couple of stings from these things and I reckon it would be good night Vienna for me. But that applies to bees and wasps and everything else. You should see what a mosquito can to me.

I am very careful in that respect. I was scared of them at first but if you observe their behaviour they are not a threat. I quite like them actually.

[Pirou]

The queens abandon the nest in late autumn and look for somewhere sheltered and frost free for winter as do ordinary hornets and wasps. Even hibernating inside houses: our cleaner found an asian hornet in the folds of our curtains in the sun room last spring. The remaining workers in the nest die out when it gets too cold or food runs out.

If your maire says that asian hornet nests are not their problem I'd talk to someone further up the chain at the prefecture, perhaps, to confirm that as fact. I don't find our mairie very well informed and they have a habit of not taking on responsibility for things that are their responsibility. If I don't get the answer I want first time, I carry on asking elsewhere.

[Pirou]

I think i wasn't very clear in my post above.

The queens that overwinter are born in the late summer of each year. The queen that laid them (the eggs) dies with her nest. Only 2016 queens (applies to native hornets and wasps too) will be starting new nests in spring 2017. So it's not one queen that will have left "your" nest to hibernate through winter Hereford, it's many "new" queens already with fertilised eggs. From one nest in 2016 there is the potential for lots of nests the following year.

[Hereford]

Thanks Pirou. So: you are saying that if our nest is last year's then several queens may have already gone off (last autumn) and will be busy chewing up trees to make themselves a new nest for 2017?

What is odd is that the trees have been bare for months yet we only saw this nest at the week-end and a holiday home owner nearby says he only noticed it then too.  We saw no hornets of any kind last summer which is unusual.  This nest is immediately over the fence at the bottom of part of our garden with a view from a biggish window and we often look out at birds etc from there.  It is less than 20 metres from the house.  When would a new nest be finished would you think - e. g. April, May etc?

I should say that the nest is in a hazelnut tree.

We are hoping to see the farmer today and may well go to our own Mairie (now only a "sub" one) tomorrow when we get an adminstrative assistant for an hour!  We have found before that the Mairie staff are, shall we say, under-trained.

We are most grateful for all the replies.

H.

[Pirou]

I am no expert on this hornet, I just had a long chat with a beekeeper. I found this article online written by the man who runs the Planete Passion website so I think is opinions are worthwhile.

http://www.livingmagazine.fr/sw-france-information/wildlife-poitou-charentes/entry/sw-france-information/wildlife-poitou-charentes.html/asian-hornets-truths-france.html

Perhaps you are most likely to see the asian hornets if you've got a bee hive. Or many people will mistake them for one of the more common striped insects. And around Normandy (Calvados, Manche) there are so many clumps of mistletoe in trees that a AH nest might easily pass unnoticed if you are not looking.

Mairie staff and training: it seems to me that there are so many complex laws and regulations that it would take a very committed, time-rich and information retentive staff to instantly recall what's what. Or a simple desire to investigate for the answer rather than resort to the shrug and je sais pas! [:)]

[Patf]

"je sais pas" [:D] the times I hear that. Why not have a guess? Frightened to get it wrong.

The Planet Passion website is very useful - Chris Luck, the owner, used to be a member on here.

[Gardengirl]

I remember Chris and his excellent website too, very helpful.

[Hoddy]

By coincidence this article appeared in the local version of Sud-Ouest this morning. It might be helpful -

http://www.sudouest.fr/2017/04/05/ils-conseillent-de-pieger-le-frelon-asiatique-3338716-1820.php

I miss Chris too - his knowledge covers such a wide range.

[grumpyaudeman]

Hi

I would leave them alone unless you keep Bees after many years they have never threatened me as for being allergic the wasp intends to hurt you and what ever pain loss off life it causes is in its favour to leave it be