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Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 10:55 am Post subject:
I think we have a nest somewhere around as I've seen 3 more. I've tried following them but they either hang around or buzz off too quickly to follow

pricey

Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 6444

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 1:30 pm Post subject:
Me and drewsephine just saw one whilst having a cuppa in the back garden, there are always a lot round here.

ksia

Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 2320
Location: Mayenne, France

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 1:55 pm Post subject:

Green Rosie wrote:

I think we have a nest somewhere around as I've seen 3 more. I've tried following them but they either hang around or buzz off too quickly to follow

Time to set up the wasp/hornet traps and buy one of those impressively big (and expensive) hornet sprays from Bricomarche/Gamme Vert/ etc.

If they buzz off in the same direction it might be worth having a little trek in the same direction. Carefully!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 3:07 pm Post subject:
horrid sting be careful

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 5:10 pm Post subject:
I think hornets are generally less inclined to sting than wasps, and their venom is not as strong, though they dose you with more. Could be of course that I was just told that as a kid to stop me panicing about them...

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 5:33 pm Post subject:

from personal of both hornet is a factor of ten nastier than wasp in toxic delivery ,might just be me (i have seen other folk's stings so maybe not )
we lived with hornets for a while they are fiesty little ladies who deserve respect ,i just checked my leg and i can still see the scars 9 years on ,my mate had some interesting scar tissue after 5 years ,the ones we shared a wood with in derbyshire had very necrotic toxin and short tempers
the southern european ones are a bit more relaxed ,dont ignore the warning headbutt

)and i have been told tropical ones are just wrong

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 5:51 pm Post subject:

We have them here every year. They nest in dead trees around here. We look forward to seeing the first queens in spring.

Sometimes they go off course and end up in the kitchen. All they want to do is get out, by buzzing the window. Just a glass and envelope, and we let them go.

Aren't they beautiful! They eat aphids, wax moth,so a beekeeper's friend, and other pests.

If you are easily scared, then yes, they buzz. They are protected in Germany now, because so many people killed them. Like people killed snakes in the UK in times past.
But we know better now, right? I think people like to have a 'scary' thing to attack.

Try www.vespa-crabro.de and press the union jack for English.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 6:30 pm Post subject:
not scary critters but very uncomfortable to misunderstand spitting cobras are scary critters to handle bulls needing tb tests are not scary critters to handle poison arrow frogs are scary critters to handle dangeroos dogs are not scarey critters to handle etc i respect hornets and have learnt to live with them

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 6:54 pm Post subject:

I find them a lot less scary than wasps which are faster, quieter and as said, probably more likely to sting than a hornet. BUT ...... both OH and I react badly to wasps - I have a scar from a wasp sting of 8 or so years ago and when I got stung on the foot 2 years ago I couldn't walk for 2 days. So I really do not want to be on the receiving end of a hornet sting that could be 10 times worse. But like you say Goosey - they are beautiful and do eat garden pests.

It will be a dilemma if I do find a nest

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 09 8:04 pm Post subject:
I know. I see you have small chidren too, so that is a consideration. My toddler grandson had a feast on woodlice one day, sitting in the garden. A hornet might have been a different proposition. Perhaps other people could try putting them outside first, instead of automatically bashing them.? Thanks

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 09 7:11 am Post subject:

goosey wrote:

We look forward to seeing the first queens in spring.

None round here but I also love seeing them.

For those worried about them worth looking at the Wiki entry for some more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet

I.e. if you react badly to wasp stings you will also react to hornet stings. The European hornet is less toxic than honey bee stings but more painful than a typical wasp.

ksia

Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 2320
Location: Mayenne, France

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 09 10:18 am Post subject:

Green Rosie wrote:

It will be a dilemma if I do find a nest

No dilemma at all. Call pompiers. "Person killed by blundering onto hornets nest" is a guaranteed annual subheadline in Ouest France. Single queen easier to tackle than small nest, small nest easier to tackle than big nest.

(Agree with dpack) the sting is really nasty. You're recommended to seek medical help if you get one.

They may be gentle, but if you pick a pear/hornet combination or sit on one you'll see just how gentle they are.

(Neighbour is an ex-pompier!)

goosey

Joined: 29 Apr 2009
Posts: 380
Location: Merry England

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 09 10:55 am Post subject:
Newspaper headlines do tend to be a source of hyperbole. Continental papers more so than the cooler northern temperament. My daughter trod on a wasp, it hurt for two days, I asked her if it was very bright to run around in bare feet without care. Knowing we live along with wildlife, look, listen, and think.

ksia

Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 2320
Location: Mayenne, France

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 09 11:50 am Post subject:
Well, goosey, when you accidently strim a hornets nest I trust you will act cooly. (And if you knew "Ouest France" you'd know it's about as hyperbolical as the instructions written on the side of a tin of paint by a boring person on heroin at the end of a long day).

Vanessa

Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 8324

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 09 5:47 pm Post subject:

I treat both wasps and hornets with enormous respect, being allergic to wasp stings. The two are completely different in behaviour; I observed both from uncomfortably close quarters when picking apples (commercially) last autumn here in France. The wasp sits and scoffs on the fruit, gets drunk and goes looking for a fight. The hornet sits on the fruit, gathers as much as it can carry, and takes it off to the nest! I feared the hornets FAR less than I feared the wasps.

I must add that I NEVER put my fingers to the back of an apple, though ... as finger-on-stinging-insect = sting. Sting = Vanessa-rushed-to-hospital. Not good.

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