wasp hornet or worse

[Deafhead]

9 hours ago, nepia said:

Ironically two years and a day later I may have the answer; they're still building the nest - in September.  This confuses me as I thought the building would be done months ago so that the incubation of larvae could be completed during the warm summer months.

We've been watching this one on the house grow all summer and it's still growing; pic taken 10 minutes ago

I reckon those barge boards could do with a few more nails.

[nepia]

Lol.  The whole house is being reclad when Wealden get round to (hopefully) granting permission and Natural England get round to reading the ecologist's bat report and determining mitigation!

I'm somewhat apprehensive about what we may find behind the boards

 

But don't knock the nails arrangement; downright professional compared to some of the stuff here!

Edited September 12, 2022 by nepia

[CABennett]

There were hornets in a big oak we were trying to cut down last summer in West Sussex. We had to leave the tree alone because they started dive bombing us with a chemical that signals to the others where to attack. Amazing creatures.

 

 

[CABennett]

4 minutes ago, CABennett said:

There were hornets in a big oak we were trying to cut down last summer in West Sussex. We had to leave the tree alone because they started dive bombing us with a chemical that signals to the others where to attack. Amazing creatures.

 

Hornets 1 - Humans nill. This is one we felled previously without knowing hornets were in the tree. We walked away in the end and moved the trunk into the woods where they wouldn't be disturbed.

[nepia]

They are indeed admirable creatures.

 

Can anyone please explain why they're still building - expanding - their nest in September?  Such behaviour doesn't seem to fit at all with their life cycle

[Mick Dempsey]

Had to come off this job today, Asiatic Hornet’s nest up there, size of a volleyball, still swarming in and around it.

Lucky I saw it.

[ABtrees]

 

And just in case some of you have yet to see an Asian hornet - here's a pic from a few days ago of one hanging upside down whilst munching its way through one of my honey bees !!!

[ABtrees]

2 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Had to come off this job today, Asiatic Hornet’s nest up there, size of a volleyball, still swarming in and around it.

Lucky I saw it.

Very lucky there Mick - not quite sure how you would have got out of that - if you had dropped the top and were still up the tree whilst they were down by your ropes looking for the 'culprit', you could have had an 'interesting' afternoon.  I was talking to the 'frelon' man last week - a couple of useless bits of info about the Asians : they have four independent wings so can hover (unlike the European versions).  They can (and do) squirt poison at you if angry and perhaps oddest of all - they don't like the heat : above 42 degrees they start dying (Euros can take up to 46 degrees apparently !).  He had just taken out an Asian nest 30+ feet up about a metre across !!! 

[nepia]

52 minutes ago, ABtrees said:

 they don't like the heat : above 42 degrees they start dying

Hence the bees' method of defence; forming a ball of quivering bees that envelope the hornet and cook it alive

[nepia]

You can't fix stupid