Question about hornets nests

[Ax-Man]

A shirt tail relative of mine whose husband just recently died called me the other morning. She sounded really worked up on the phone about a hornets nest she seen in one of her trees. She wanted the thing gone ASP because the more she thought about this nest the more concerned she became about hornets being around her house this spring. Being a recent widow and now alone I can understand her concern naturally which prompted the call to me.

We are going to take care of the nest but the question I have is.

Do hornets deposit eggs in the nest to overwinter or do they abondon the nest after the season has ended???

I told this shirt tail relative that I thought hornets would not come back as they abondon the nest after they get done using it. This calmed her down but to be honest I am not 100 % about this one so I thought I would start a thread on hornets to get some info if anyone has any.

Either way the nest goes as soon it warms up a little just so she can have peace of mind.

 

[No_Bivy]

new nest every year I think............unless it's one of those crazy huge thingys in alabama
http://www.aces.edu/department/extcomm/npa/daily/archives/002193.php

 

[sotc]

usually the "new" queens winter over in the duff under trees and come out in the spring, build a small nest and lay some worker eggs

 

[Cobleskill]

yEAH, THEY ABANDON THE NEST AND START OVER THE NEXT SPRING

 

[Koa Man]

No hornets in Hawaii, but don't you just swat it with a baseball bat [to get rid of it] like I see in the cartoons?

 

[JonnyHart]

Either way the nest goes as soon it warms up a little just so she can have peace of mind.

I'd have more peace of mind removing a hornet's nest when the temp is below freezing.
Here's a great link with specific info about every flying, stinging insect found in North America.
http://www.greensmiths.com/bees.htm

 

[Cobleskill]

Good summary of all the different species. I found one mistake in the honeybee section. It says worker bees can live for up to 35 days. Actually in the winter they survive up to 6 months.

 

[Frans]

What is a 'shirt-tail' relative?

 

[Ax-Man]

What is a 'shirt-tail' relative?

One that you see maybe once or twice a year, usally at Christmas time or at a funeral.

In this this case there is no "blood " connection except through marriage. A second marriage by my mother.

Thanks guys for the info, can always count on the TreeHouse crowd.

 

[Al Smith]

I have a couple of them,hornets nests.Get them about the first of Nov after a frost.Clip off the limb they are attached to,toss it in a big garbage bag and give it a good wiff of Raid .Tie up the bag and let in simmer for awhile. Pull out the nest and give it a shot of clear urethane.Makes a nice conversation piece. Probabley even more so if the hornets were still in residence.

 

[TC3]

Cool idea, Al. My boy saved a huge hornet's nest in a plastic bin & it smelled like ass after about a week. Lotsa hornet spit, I guess ?!?
AxMeister, you're lookin' out for old gal in more ways than just hornets. Sounds like she'll be afraid of her own shadow for awhile after her recent loss. Good on ye for slaying some dragons for her.