Fruit Fight

This rotten pear must be very sweet. The Hornets are fighting over it! It's time I got out and picked them so they can ripen slowly in the shed. They are delicious, but there will be plenty for the wildlife too. With a heavy crop this year there are more than I and my friends combined can deal with.

These are European Hornets, Vespa crabro, and definitely not the Asian ones, Vespa velutina nigrithorax, that are on everyone's lips these days. I just love it when someone tells me how dangerous Hornets are and how being stung would put one in hospital on the verge of death, without a shadow of doubt. Not true! In my lifetime I have only met one person who can honestly say he was stung. Cutting through a nest with a chain saw may have had something to do with it! The stings were painful and lasted a bit longer than a wasps but no more than that.

Despite their daunting size, European Hornets are placid creatures which are unlikely to sting unless if you disturb their nests or accidently squash one. Their stings are no more dangerous than a wasps but unlike their smaller cousins, they won't just sting you because you happen to be sitting in the wrong place.

I consider myself lucky to have them around. They are actually the perfect insecticide, taking many unwanted pests back to their nests to feed their young larvae. Although they are most active in the day, they will fly at night and can be attracted by house lights. Ok, so a Hornet thrashing around your sitting room is hardly pleasant but it's more scared than you are. Just turn out the light and place a torch out side the open window and the creature will make a quick escape.

At this time of year, like wasps, the colonies are beginning to die off. The workers that have until now been hunting insects for food now turn their attentions to sweet sugary fruit as their queen will no longer be laying eggs and there will only be a few larvae to feed. Those that are left will be the new queens who will mate and disperse to go into hibernation alone. The rest of the colony must die.