Anybody got a can of Raid?

[Gy Stargazer]

Well last night would have been a good night to get some moon viewing in but for some strange reason the back garden has been plagued recently by European Hornets.

blumming big blighters between 1 1/2 inches and 2 inches long.

For some reason only coming out at night time and trying to attack anything that moves.

As far as i can tell there is no nest on our property and can't figure out why they are out at night.

Have lived here for 12 years and this is the first time i've seen them, the other main problem is i've never been stung by anything before and knowing my mum has bad reactions is enough to stop me from being an open target.

Anyone else on the forums had any similar problems?

Anyone know if a bug zapper will work on them?

(Though not really an idea seeing as looking them up i found that you kill 1 and it releases a pheromone that causes any nearby to swarm and attack)

Scot

[barkis]

They must be horrendous to cope with, and enjoyment killers for sure. Not been plagued with them myself, but Dalby Star parties were spoiled by Midges at almost every one I went to.

Drove me crazy.

Ron.

[yeti monster]

Avon skin so soft works wonders as an insect repellant, do these monsters count as insects????

[TopHouse]

Never heard of them being in the UK, you get them in Cyprus and they are HUGE, like a wasp but as the OP says, about 1 1/2 inchess long, they look like pigeons with striped jumpers on!

[Earl]

My brother in law had a Hornets nest a few years ago somewhere around his house, standing inside and turning the outside light on by the front door and in they come.

Noise and aggressive. thank god there was a pane of glass between us and them I dont fancy a sting from one of those

[boboco]

i found that you kill 1 and it releases a pheromone that causes any nearby to swarm and attack

Scot

... you can use that to your advantage. Which I did for a wasps nest (AFAIK they have the same behaviour). I put a static insect zapper near the mouth of a wasps nest in my shed. Left it for 24 hours and the thing was FULL to the brim and the nest was empty after a week. Interesting thing is that the wasps were layered in there and got smaller and smaller as time went on (obviously the immature wasps were being sent out to kill the attacker).

Before anyone calls me cruel I should point out that I am VERY allergic to wasp stings and this nest was inside a shed that I had to regularly use and having seen the nest swarm when the shed door was slammed shut by the wind I had to solve the issue. I have lived quite happy with a huge nest above my front door...

Cheers,

Karl.

[Talitha]

Scot, if i were you i'd contact an exterminator ASAP and get some professional advice/help. If the neighbors are being bothered too, maybe you could get a multi-garden discount. Odd them being active at night though, i've never heard of that before. Maybe they're nesting in a spot (wall, maybe?) that's relatively peaceful until you set the scope up?

Be safe, and best of luck getting rid of them.

[johninderby]

You definitely don't want to be stung by a Hornet, they make a bee or wasp sting seem like nothing. I've been stung by them twice, once in Georgia and once in Maine. What do American Hornets have against me?

John

[JohnC]

I saw a report a few years ago where they were attracted to the pitch of the mount motors. Could this be the case here?

[661-pete]

Several points, if I may.

The European Hornet, Vespa crabro, is often nocturnal in its habits, often seen flying around flowers late in the evening - although it also flies by day.

Unless you approach a nest (in which case its behaviour is legendary), the hornet is not at all aggressive - far less so than the common wasp. It is very unlikely to sting when it is merely out foraging for nectar.

It is fairly common in parts of the UK, though perhaps not seen so often since it tends to avoid humans (though we had one in our bedroom in Sussex, once). We see them often enough in France.

Except for the queen, the hornet is not as big as the OP makes out. Up to about 30mm (a bit over an inch) for a typical worker - noticeably larger than a common wasp. Eyewitness reports tend to exaggerate!

The sting, so I've been told, is about as painful and severe as that of a honey bee. Obviously the danger comes from disturbing a nest and being stung by several at once. Just the same as would happen if you approached a domestic beehive (and I don't mean M44! ).

I actually rather enjoy watching these insects flying about, I don't feel in the least troubled by them.

Finally, in some countries (e.g. Germany) V. crabro is a protected species.

To sum up: unless you've got a very particular problem, please consider leaving these creatures alone!

[ScruffyOne]

My skin is crawling! i have a bit of a phobia of wasps, and if there were hornets outside I'd become a hermit! Imagine that a hornet hermit! definately get an exterminator in. on a similar subject, there is a massive bees nest in one of the walls of my work, around the beginning of july they get really aggressive and will attack anything. doesn't help that the nest is right above the main entrance!

URGH

[jaquesnoir]

We had a nest of these nearby last year. We would see at least half a dozen every day and we never found out where they were coming from.

None of us ever had any trouble from them. They're quite docile compared to the average wasp. Its the size and the loud drone that makes them scary.

[tooth_dr]

Not a hornet but saw my first horntail the other day. Quite a bit larger than the wasp, at about an inch and half long, with a scary 'stinger' sticking out the back.

It was only after checking the internet that we realised the 'stinger' was in fact a harmless projection for laying eggs! Phew!

[TopHouse]

This is a photo of a cyprus one, and no, it's not edited :-

[Tim]

Yeh, my experience of them is that they are not aggressive, they just want to do their thing, not really their fault if they conjure up images of monsters in the minds of the beholders. It's their world too.......

[661-pete]

This is a photo of a cyprus one, and no, it's not edited :-

That's actually not a European Hornet, but an Asian Giant Hornet: Vespa mandarinia. And yes - it's noticeably bigger! Don't know whether it's any more aggressive. Nor do I have any idea what it might be doing in Cyprus...

[Layor]

Wow, that's big:eek: look at the size of its hand!

Layor

[anthony]

Nothing of value to add here. Just wanted to say that my skin is crawling after reading all that.

[TopHouse]

That's actually not a European Hornet, but an Asian Giant Hornet: Vespa mandarinia. And yes - it's noticeably bigger! Don't know whether it's any more aggressive. Nor do I have any idea what it might be doing in Cyprus...

I just googled Cyprus hornets and it gave me that. They have quite a lot of honeybees in Cyprus, as in cultivated hives as the greeks use quite a lot of honey, and the bees have started fighting back against the hornet attacks on hives by ganging up on the hornets, there's some interesting youtube vids of the cypriot bees smothering hornets with a bee ball.

[Psychobilly]

One thing I learnt about insects... dont argue with the man who speaks latin....

Billy...

[661-pete]

well, I just did some googling myself. Live and learn! I profess to knowing a bit about European Hornets: been watching them for years; and seen the giant Asian thingy once or twice - spectacular! But it seems there's another species of Asiatic hornet invading Europe: see here and here (in French). Not heard of this before! And what's more, it's cropped up in France in département Lot-et-Garonne - slap bang where we have our French house! And there are worries it may be invading Britain too.

To be honest I'm not so worried about this creature's aggressiveness and the risk of stings, as about its depradations on honeybees. We have a lot of fruit trees in the French garden, and we really need the bees around! As if they didn't have enough predators and nasty diseases already! And moreover, our garden backs onto a large commercial orchard, also dependent on the bees and currently profitable. If it closes down through lack of bees, the trees will go and maybe the builders will then move in - there goes my dark skies...

But one thing is: these particular hornets are quite small. Smaller than the European hornet, apparently. So maybe they're not the ones mentioned in earlier posts.

As I said: you learn something every time. I'll be on the lookout for these. If they don't get me first!

[Gy Stargazer]

Will have a look into some way of drawing them away from the house.

If the neighbors are being bothered too,

Unfortunately Talitha the neighbour to my right is on holiday and my neighbour to my left on ventures out to drive to the pub then back again. Don't think he'd actually notice them when he's drunk.

... you can use that to your advantage. Which I did for a wasps nest (AFAIK they have the same behaviour). I put a static insect zapper near the mouth of a wasps nest in my shed.

That's worth an idea but as 661 - pete has said could be better of leaving them alone to do their own thing. Am sure pete will correct me if i'm wrong but from what i googled it shouldn't be much longer before they start to die out for the year.

[LukeSkywatcher]

This is a photo of a cyprus one, and no, it's not edited :-

Ahhhhhhh the Asian Giant Hornet. Nasty beggars. I'd freak out and then pass out if i saw one. Or perhaps i'd pass out then freak out.

[Talitha]

Try doing a Google search on 'hornet trap'. Maybe you can purchase them over there like you can here, i'm not sure. I've heard that the homemade ones work just fine, though.

[vlebo]

Never heard of them being in the UK, you get them in Cyprus and they are HUGE, like a wasp but as the OP says, about 1 1/2 inchess long, they look like pigeons with striped jumpers on!

A few years back I was on vacation in Cyprus and was riding a motorbike back to my Aunts house when I saw one of these things making a bee line for me( pardon the pun ). It hit me square on in the chest and landed on my leg . by the time I could swipe it off it had stung me on my upper thigh. I was about 5 minutes from my Aunties house and by the time I had got there the sting had become a saucer sized lump on my leg and the pain was almost unbearable.

I took some anti hystamine tabs and put anti hystamine cream on the lump which was by now rock hard and bright red . It took 5 hours for the pain to finally subside but 3 months for the lump to fully dissappear. This is what the B-----d looked like but more red and yellow in colour so if they look anything like this my advice is leggit !

Vlebo