Hornets. Now, I'm not being unreasonable...

[Caff2]

...but surely they are for existing, and what the bloody hell do I do about them?

We have two hanging around by our back door, they're massive and terrifying and I'm allergic to wasp stings. Is my epi pen proof against these bastards? And how do I kill them without getting close?

I need them gone!

[sleepingdragon]

I am just at a garden centre buying a waspinator (and sat down for a cuppa while I consider buying multiple ones to give to family and friends). I don't know if they work yet but they have good internet reviews, they are basically things you hang up, they look like wasps nests and that make real wasps and hornets stay away.

[RustyBear]

My grandad used to cut wasps in half on the wing with the breadknife.

Never did fancy my nan's sandwiches....

[MrsMangoBiscuit]

sleeping, my lovely NDN has one in their tree just on the other side of our shared fence. I haven't seen a wasp in our garden all summer. Elsewhere, yes, but no where near the fake nest.

[OHforDUCKScake]

Really MrsMango? We haven't been in our garden for 3 weeks because there's a nest near by (not sure where but at think its attached to my house) and the wasps are everywhere.

So I need a pretend nest. I can do that.

[HarrietSchulenberg]

Rustybear - my grandad used to pinch their heads as they flew past.

[WilsonFrickett]

What's with all these ninja grandads?

I have never seen so many hornets as this year, it's crazy. DS is petrified so I have to try and stay calm I'm really not calm.

[MrsMangoBiscuit]

Yup, not a single wasp in our garden. Seen them at work, at the park, pub garden, but none in our back garden. They bought the fake nest thing as they got a real one last year very close to the house and had problems getting rid. Seems to have worked like a charm.

[gymmummy64]

I have to say <a class="break-all" href="//www.amazon.co.uk/Mayhem-FlyGun-Fly-Gun/dp/B001158V04?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">these are brilliant. And very satisfying if not very eco-friendly

[Adikia]

I'm going to get myself a fake wasps nest.

I think theres something about there being more hornets this year because of the unusually cold weather in spring and there being less wasps (which is also coz of the weather) and because we now have Asian hornets visiting (in some parts of England anyway) which are larger and more aggressive, they attack native bees.

[Caff2]

Hornets made no reappearance, but I'm now flinching and flapping at harmless things like moths and crane flies! This is their legacy ;)

[Oldraver]

I have only ever seen one hornet, I went to get in the car pulled the door shut and heard a buzzing.. turned my head and one of the big buggers was inches from my nose. I may of screamed just a little.

[Caff2]

The ONLY good thing about hornets is the noise. It lets you know about the bastards. But then, if they didn't exist, we wouldn't need the warning noise! Are they the worst British insect?

[MrsMangoBiscuit]

They attack bees? Bastards! I really don't like them now. :(

[amandine07]

YANBU!

Bloody hornets, wasps & bees- I hate them all!
I know bees make honey and some sort of important role compared to wasps/hornets (maybe they do & I need to be enlightened?!)...but I cannot stand these buzzing bastards!

[amandine07]

Before anyone says anything- IADNBU!!

[digerd]

I have had 2 wasps nests in my loft in the 15 years I have lived here.
I leave them alone if they leave me alone. But the last time they began to get through the air gaps in the ceiling lights into my bathroom, the most dropping down right above the loo.
After sitting on it with a towel over my head and lap, decided I'd had enough and called in the exterminator. He had to come twice as the nest coverered a 6' length of the wall and after 2 weeks many were still alive.
My fearless DB went up into loft and marvelled at the intricate lace work and stamped on the dying ones left.

Did have hornets living in the side of our house in Germany by the patio, but DH said leave them alone and they won't bother you, unlike wasps that land on your lips to lick the beer off them.

[Adikia]

MrsMango, some species of hornet do yeah, it's Vespa velutina that are most worrying, they wait outside the bee's nest and bash against it a few times then as the bees come out to defend the nest the hornet kills them by snapping or biting their heads off then once its killed all the bees it destroys the nest to eat the larvae, there are very few of them in the south east of England so far, but they managed to invade France pretty quickly after a single nest was accidentally shipped there from Asia. because they aren't native there's nothing to stop them flourishing.

Normal European hornets just eat fruit and won't sting any worse than a wasp, and are slightly less evil than wasps (although most things are slightly less evil than wasps) and an epipen will work on them.

I once accidentally went too close to a wasps nest as a child and some got stuck in my hair, I developed a terrible fear of anything that buzzes for years, thanks to my mums colonies of bumble bees I can now cope with bumble bees, and I'm ok with honey bees once they stay till long enough for me to realise they aren't wasps but wasps and hornets still terrify me, the hope was learning about them would help but it didn't.

[CrabbyBigBottom]

Was it a native UK hornet, or could it have been this? If so, zap it with the spray and take a photo of it and/or send the dead body to DEFRA.

The invading ones are a huge threat to our honeybees and the wellbeing and sanity of any normal person, terrifying bloody bastards.

[CrabbyBigBottom]

Adilkia got there first; Vespa velutina is the Asian Hornet in the link.

I'm a community first responder and got sent to a call that came through as 10yr old fallen into a wasps' nest - 50+ stings and allergic reaction. The whole way there I was absolutely shitting myself visualising an enormous cloud of angry wasps buzzing around the patient! Thank fuck there were no wasps, the allergic reaction was a mild one and despite falling right into a nest and having to have all his clothes removed because they were all over him, he only had one visible sting!

[Adikia]

They're horrible aren't they Crabby? The museum near me as a collection of insects pinned in displays and the Asian hornet is definitely one I never want to see a live one of, the only one that scares me more is its larger relative

Poor kid, he must have been terrified!

[CrabbyBigBottom]

I wish I could describe my face whilst reading that Adikia - it was a mixture of and . Why doesn't MN have a scared and disgusted emoticon... surely that would be well used on here. I'm so glad the UK doesn't have many truly terrifying creatures.

The lad was amazingly sanguine under the circumstances! His mum was the one with tension etched on her face. It's the only time I've ever seen paramedics arrive at a run (across a playing field on a very very hot day!) - usually their default pace is a leisurely saunter, whatever the emergency.

[MrsMangoBiscuit]

Did you read about the japanese honey bees defenses against hornets? That's impressive. They smother them, heat them up and push up the CO2 levels to kill off the scouts without raising any alarms for other hornets to pick up on. Clever bees!

Poor kid, I would have freaked out if that was me.

[aliciaflorrick]

I don't mind hornets, and get them a lot here in my home in France. They're not aggressive like wasps. I generally get them upstairs so herd them into a bedroom, close the blinds and open a window. They aim for the square of light and leave. Saying that, it was in the newspaper last week that they'd destroyed a nest of Asian hornets in the village next to mine.