A Nest for Thousands

A few months ago, while I was walking around our pond, I heard a buzzing sound coming from a tree along the wood line. After investigating, I found that there was a hornet’s nest located in the base of a hollow dead tree! European hornets can build a paper nest containing 1,500-3,000 cells!

As I watched, the European hornets flew back and forth from the nest, I noticed that they were dropping little pieces of wood and sawdust! I figured the wood chips and sawdust came from the work they were doing in the dead tree. I wanted to get a closer look at the stuff surrounding the entrance of the nest, so I advance towards the nest hoping to get a better view. The European hornets’ workers can grow up to an inch long, while the queen grows slightly bigger- 1.3 inches long. The biggest hornet is the Vespa Mandarinia hornet. It is about two inches long and was introduced from Asia! Its common name is the northern giant hornet.

As I moved forward, a few hornets that had previously landed on the tree came flying at me! I don’t know what they were doing, but I did not wait to find out! I ran as fast as I could, hoping to out-speed them, but the hornets were fast flying close to 14 mph! These hornets can fly backwards and also at night! I ran a far distance before stopping, after the hornets had stopped chasing me. I then went to the house and warned everyone to stay away from the tree containing the nest.

I had been thinking about how to defeat the hornets when an idea came to mind. If we were to make it as hard as possible to live in the tree, maybe the hornets would get so tired of it and leave! I immediately went out and gathered a handful of good throwing rock, about the size of baseballs and headed for the hornets. When I arrived, I saw no hornets around so I got into throwing range and then threw each rock as hard and as fast as I could! After that, I ran fast because hundreds of hornets came buzzing from the home and I thought it wise to run before they saw me. I took off! I heard the buzzing sound slowly get louder as more hornets came pouring out from the hole I had made! When I thought I was a good safe distance away from enraged hornets, I stopped and slowly and cautiously returned to the spot where I had thrown the rocks. The hornets were going crazy! To me, this was very good, but for the hornets it must have looked like a disaster.

Every day, I go out and throw a few rocks at the nest and every day the hornets go crazy! If I can’t get the hornets to leave, at least I know that they will all freeze in the winter. Most bees, wasps, and hornets can’t survive the first hard freeze. But my battle won’t be over, though. The mated queen will bury herself or look for a hiding spot to hibernate until spring. And then she’ll make a new nest for thousands.

 ~Samuel