When Hornets Attack, or Exciting Entomolgical News Part I
Two Sundays ago I was mowing the lawn when I discovered that there was a hornet nest in said lawn. Now, we had seen an occasional hornet hanging out around M's flowers this summer, but never very many or with enough movement to pinpoint a nest location. That didn't happen until my foot kicked a hole underneath a root after I had run the lawn mower over it. First I felt a sharp pain in one ankle, then the other ankle, and then I realized what was happening and got the heck out of there. I took one more sting in my right hand as I excited the vicinity.
When the nest had calmed down some I retrieved the lawn mower and finished the rest of the yard. I then went and retrieved a can of hornet/wasp killer that I purchased back in 2007. When I bought the house there was an old nest hanging on the fence and out of an abundance of caution I'd zapped it before knocking it down. I still had that can, and while it no longer had the 25 foot range promised on the label, it easily gave me a six foot firing range. The hole for the nest was quite visible now that I knew where to look, and I stuck most of the rest of the can right in that hole.
M reports that she saw a hornet later that week. My close examinations of the hole have not turned anything up so far, but it's always possible that there is another nest somewhere or that there was an alternate entrance for the nest that sheltered some survivors. There's still a little hornet poison in the can so I might stick it down the hole again just to be on the safe side.
The good news it that I am definitely not allergic to hornet stings. There was some minor swelling in each of the three stings, particularly in my hand, but it went down within a day. I can't recall ever having been stung by a hornet before, not to mention a wasp or a bee, so that's a bit of good news.
When the nest had calmed down some I retrieved the lawn mower and finished the rest of the yard. I then went and retrieved a can of hornet/wasp killer that I purchased back in 2007. When I bought the house there was an old nest hanging on the fence and out of an abundance of caution I'd zapped it before knocking it down. I still had that can, and while it no longer had the 25 foot range promised on the label, it easily gave me a six foot firing range. The hole for the nest was quite visible now that I knew where to look, and I stuck most of the rest of the can right in that hole.
M reports that she saw a hornet later that week. My close examinations of the hole have not turned anything up so far, but it's always possible that there is another nest somewhere or that there was an alternate entrance for the nest that sheltered some survivors. There's still a little hornet poison in the can so I might stick it down the hole again just to be on the safe side.
The good news it that I am definitely not allergic to hornet stings. There was some minor swelling in each of the three stings, particularly in my hand, but it went down within a day. I can't recall ever having been stung by a hornet before, not to mention a wasp or a bee, so that's a bit of good news.