The Hornet Nest
In the past I have written a couple of posts related to yellow jackets and of them building their nests in the ground.
Today while out in the mountains, I was reminded of a more dangerous but yet more visible bees nest, the hornet nest.
While most dangers relating to the mountains are on/in the ground, this one hangs a few feet above ground. If you have ever been stung by a hornet you know how painful that is. Imagine having a whole nest of them after you. A friend told me a few years back, may he rest in peace, when I asked him about bees he said he got an entire hornet colony after him one time. When I asked how he got away… I runned from them till they quit runnin’ fer me.
If you make just one hornet from the nest feel it has to sting you to defend the nest then you will have every bee in the nest on you. I can guarantee you don’t want that. The best thing you can do when you encounter a hornet nest, avoid it and put some distance between you and the nest.
From Wikipedia -
Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans. The hornet alarm pheromone is used to raise alarm of nest attack, and to identify prey, for example bees. It is not advisable to kill a hornet anywhere near a nest, as the distress signal can trigger the entire nest to attack. Materials that come in contact with pheromone, such as clothes, skin, dead prey or hornets, must be removed from the vicinity of the hornets nest. Perfumes, and other volatile chemicals can be falsely identified as pheromone by the hornets and trigger attack.
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