Hornets

[Sue]

Hi
On Sunday night a hornet came into my flat, arn't they big! The cats went crazy, once was frightened of it and slunk off but fearless Georgie was dying for a fight so the poor thing had to be despatched as I was afraid of Georgie catching it and getting stung.
And on Monday there was another one, sounded like there was a helicopter overhead, and that one too had to go for the same reasons.
Now I'm roasting at night as worried about more coming in. Can't see any activity in the daytime roundabouts so must have been a fluke.
Are they aggressive? Can you get badly stung by them? It was too big to be sucked up in my spider scooper, and we couldn't get near it to capture it and take it outside so had to knock it out with a broom.
Feeling guilty now
Sue

[rustylady]

Don't feel guilty, Sue, it's a case of survival. Hornets are huge and scary. I am surprised you've had two so close together, there is a possibility that there is a nest nearby. You can buy fine mesh sheets that you stick over your windows so that you can open them for air, but the bugs can't get in.

[Alice]

Hello Sue, I don't have Hornets here - too far north - but I have encountered them in France. Yes, they are big and they are to be be treated with respect. They do sting badly. If you have seen a couple there will be a Hornets nest near bye. You could watch and see if you can see their flight path to lead you to the nest. Dealing with that is a matter for the professionals. I would call in the pest exterminators once you know where it is. In France the Fire Brigade deals with them - but then, they deal with everything.

[Nicos]

We have them in France and the locals have told us to be very respectful of them.
They aren't anything like wasps in their attitude.
They are more than interested in investigating anything which moves or doesn't and will fly round a couple of times for a closer inspection. If they feel threatened in anyway they will happily go for you. Yes they do give an almighty sting too.
It may have been the same one returning for further investigation.
There is no way I'd try and shoo one away in case it got the wrong idea.
Treat them with respect, call in professionals and put up mesh at your open windows as they do in Europe.
BUT !!! Be careful - if you try to kill one but don't succed in one go, the injured hornet will release phermones which will act as a call the all the others in the nest, and then you'll have a dozen angry beggars looking for a serious fight!
On the plus side- they attack wasps and are infact useful in that respect!

[Sue]

Gosh, thankyou
It was as bad as I thought, and the thought of more coming to the aid of an injured one is very scary. Haven't seen them around at all, and would have thought if they're nearby would have seen them during the day? Also It's built up round here and if there is a nest would have heard of others having problems.
So far, and I hope this lasts, no more visits, but it will be daddy longlegs next, gulp
I can mesh one of the windows, but the other one opens to the horizontal and more difficult, so will have to keep that closed at night.
Sue

[Alice]

The Daddylonglegs are a nuisance - but harmless. I hate them flittering about the place. They are attracted in by the light, so once you have your bedroom light out you can open the window without them being attracted in. Well that's what I tell myself anyway.

[roitelet]

Hornets are non-agressive and as Nicos says will only attack if threatened. The only time that we have them in the house is when they are atracted by light at night. I just vacate the room leave the window open and turn out the light and they seem to go away. As for the nest unless it is in a place that will cause a real problem I just give it a wide berth. They will go away like wasps in the autumn.

Took one empty nest out of an empty tree one year, amazing, they build in high rise flat formation. A layer of cells and then stalks before the next one.

[moggssue]

My local pub always gets a couple of hornets every year, round September time - I didnt realise about the pheromone releasing either, but that would maybe explain why a second one always seems to appear after the first has been dispatched. I really don't like to see things being killed but they seem very aggressive and far too large to just ignore while sipping my pint! Reading your posts it seems I'm wrong about their aggressiveness, but they never seem to want to be shooed out but 'divebomb' everyone in the vicinity!