Found this in the garden dead this morning (card for perspective)
Big fella
- Thread starter Thingybob
- Start date
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A lady of course, not a fella - the boys won't be around until much later in the year. Beautiful things, we get loads of them round here, much more pleasant to have around than Common Wasps and do loads of good in the garden - I've watched them cut up big slugs and take them back to the nest bit by bit. We had a colony in a bird nest box just outside the back door last year - they filled the box, then chewed through the bottom of it and recycled the wood to make a huge lump hanging down and stuck to the wall. Despite constant foot traffic within a few foot of them, no-one got stung, though we all got bumped into numerous times - lovely creatures.
European Hornet (Vespa crabro) queen. Mostly harmless.
Quite a few around at the moment. Normally ignore folk - they're just big & noisy...
Not an Asian Hornet?
Blackswanwood
Still Learning
No, they have yellow legs.
Normally, but I did get stung by one as a kid when it flew in the car window and being stuck inside turned on the attack is the best form of defence mechanism. Not fun, they pack a wallop.
selectortone
Still waking up not dead in the morning
I had a queen hornet crawl out from under a bench in my workshop one spring a few years ago. What a beautiful creature. She was still quite sleepy so I scooped her up and put her under a bush in the sun at the bottom of the garden to warm up. Half an hour later she was gone.
Thanks for the info
Stigmorgan
Established Member
Invention of the Devil those things!
A Hornet came past me in the garden a few days ago, like a mini Chinook droning past. Not had them in my garden before so looking forward to seeing some more once she has set up home. Also have squatters in one of my bird boxes, it is full of bees ! Always have House Martins on three walls, this year they have decided on an extension to what my kids call budgie mansions. So on one of the nests they have added pretty much the same again on one side, never seen them do that before.
I hope its not an asian hornet or your bees will be short lived. https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/wildlife-stories/the-asian-hornet-in-the-uk
It's not.
No regular European variety.
