Hornets

[For want of a better word]

We have a nest of hornets in a bird box high in a tree, recently used by blue tits.... about 5 meters from our apiary.
Caught one seems to be NOT Asian... google seems to have very few pics for ID

Guidance PLEASE !!!

 

[MJBee]

Probably European hornet - yellow face and even black and yellow striped abdomen.
Asian as per my avatar but Chris Luck has better pictures check his hornet thread. Orange face and a broad orange segment towards the end of the abdomen.
In a blue tit sized nest box it is a small nest so I would leave alone if not a danger to the public. The first frost will solve the problem.

 

[For want of a better word]

Thanks MJBee..... only noticed it as one landed on my shoulder and proceeded to inject venom into me through my T shirt!

Would just love to keep them... but not there... can they be moved?

 

[Roola]

Thanks MJBee..... only noticed it as one landed on my shoulder and proceeded to inject venom into me through my T shirt!

Would just love to keep them... but not there... can they be moved?

Ouch!! Did it hurt more than a bee sting?

 

[Pauljones]

Did it look like one of these

 

[Essexgary]

could be wrong - but I think the Asian hornet has two rows of parallel black dots along it's back towards it's tail. Just like in the photo. The Euro hornet doesn't have these dots. Anyway, that's how I check.

One flew into our lounge the other night and made a hell of a riot. dogs went crazy, I gave it a wallop then put it in the freezer, made a very nice specimen to show bee-buddies who had not seen any kind of hornet before. (then I peeled the dog from the window)

Gary

 

[For want of a better word]

Did it look like one of these

Exactly like the lower specimen... that would be our endemic European Hornet then??

Sting reaction was much like a wasp... slight blistering that faded after a couple of hours.... but then I did not get the full wammy as it stung through a T shirt.

Compared to a bee sting... depends upon where the bee stings!
I often now work my black bees and my mild mannered NZ without the need for gloves and occasionally get stung ( usually my own fault for trapping one)

Sting is only a minor irritation.... however I was stung by a buckfast type of bee that an acquaintance insists on keeping and my wrist swelled up like a balloon, and the sting hurt.... reaching for the Loratodine and witch hazel!!!

BTW... have found a "safe " home for the hornets... they will not be destroyed!

 

[Pauljones]

I have a few nests around, and only seen one round the bee hives, its the wasps that im trapping and the traps are working, getting a few hornets as well

 

[MMJ100]

The big difference is that the Asian Hornet has distinctly yellow legs. Also it hovers (in front of the hive) Where the Euro one flights about and is smaller than the Euros I get here.

Good luck I have 5 traps around my hives here and catch a bunch (9/10 in the past 20 hours)

 

[Karol]

Dolichovespula media queens are frequently mistaken for hornets.

 

[Oscarmonster]

View attachment 8705
Can anyone tell me what this is please.

 

[Oscarmonster]

View attachment 8706

 

[Mark Young]

That’s a Hornet.
Lovely things aren’t they. I often see one or two near my hives, they only grab the odd bee here and ther which causes no impact. They are generally misrepresented because they are ‘scary looking’, which is a shame because they are a pleasure to observe, much less aggressive than a wasp and are in decline.

 

[Luminos]

That’s a Hornet.
Lovely things aren’t they. I often see one or two near my hives, they only grab the odd bee here and ther which causes no impact. They are generally misrepresented because they are ‘scary looking’, which is a shame because they are a pleasure to observe, much less aggressive than a wasp and are in decline.

There's plenty of them in a nestbox outside my bedroom window, I can tell you...
I just wish they wouldn't keep flying in to tell me bedtime stories every night