I'm trapped by a swarm of angry hornets

[Math Is Hard]

I once had a whole colony move into the chimney at my house, but they were honey bees. The whole radius of the house plus garden was covered by bees. They started coming down the chimney at one point and that's when the trouble really began.

Yikes! So did you at least get some honey out of the chimney?

 

[-Job-]

There was some honey gathered from the nest, but i didn't see any of it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Now it's starting to seem that we have a roving swarm? Does this make any sense? Do they swarm in early summer for some reason? As I said, at first they were all swarming around one area with the size of the swarm decreasing each day. Yesterday there was probably only dozens to a few hundred flyling around. Then this morning there was a good size swarm out there again near the same place but relocated by about twenty feet. This afternoon they were gone when hornets are normally buzzing all around. Yesterday evening I went out and took a look but didn't see a large nest on the ground where I expected to find one. It could still be hidden in the grass but I looked near what seemed to be the center of the swarm.

Now I know that we do get tremendously large nests here in Oregon as I've seem them as large as a basketball, and the size of the initial swarm was in line with some of the nests I've seen, but I have never seen an entire swarm moving around like this.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well, I never found a nest, and I finally had the pasture mowed but he didn't quite finish mowing - the hornets ran him off! When he got near the tree mentioned earlier, they started to swarm. Luckily he saved that area for last.

I think the nest may be in the tree trunk. I can't see one but it is certainly somewhere nearby, and a very large one at that! I'll probably try to figure out where the nest is and wait until winter to get it.

 

[dlgoff]

Wait until winter? You're no fun.

Do you think that there may be another queen and they are moving to start another nest?

 

[SticksandStones]

Well, I never found a nest, and I finally had the pasture mowed but he didn't quite finish mowing - the hornets ran him off! When he got near the tree mentioned earlier, they started to swarm. Luckily he saved that area for last.

I think the nest may be in the tree trunk. I can't see one but it is certainly somewhere nearby, and a very large one at that! I'll probably try to figure out where the nest is and wait until winter to get it.

Call in an exterminator and get it removed.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

They are no threat in cold weather - they can't move. When it gets cold I'll have my wife Tsu take care of it.

 

[rcgldr]

about 1.5" long and really thick and stubby.

Cicada killers. A lot these in parts of Texas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp
Might as well include the Cicadas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada

swarm

If the critters are truly swarming, like a small tornado, chances are they're re-locating (leaving an old hive, or a splinter group following a second queen). Since there's no hive to protect, they generally aren't aggressive, and won't sting while they're swarming. The key is a general lateral movement while swarming. If they're protecting a nest, they're more scattered, and there's no net lateral movment. I've had a swarm of rather large hornets pass right by me while I was at a stop light on a bicycle. The main concern is for the hornets not to get "caught in clothing" (as mentioned in the article) which would trigger a trapped reaction.

relocating honey bees

I live near the edge of an unpopulated area. The local vector control frowns on killing any critters in our area. There's a service to relocate honey bees. The guy comes out in a van, dons a bee keeper suit, captures the queen bee, guides her into a small box with a string, then hangs the box in the back of the van and just waits for almost all of the bees to surround the queen, then he closes up the van, and relocates the bees to a honey farm.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If the critters are truly swarming, like a small tornado, chances are they're re-locating (leaving an old hive, or a splinter group following a second queen).

That's what Integral suggested. It would also explain why I haven't seen as many since, even when they started to go after my tractor man.

 

[SticksandStones]

They are no threat in cold weather - they can't move. When it gets cold I'll have my wife Tsu take care of it.

I meant remove them before the winter. Maybe I'm just weird, but my property isn't here for spawn's of satan to relocate and freeload. If they want to stay on my property they can pay rent or meet Mr.Raid. :)

 

[turbo]

The year before last was a bumper year for white-faced hornets, and they built a nest in a particularly good patch of blackberries on the edge of the woods in the back yard. I didn't want to poison the patch or the soil, so I just avoided that patch, until the night-time temps dropped to the low 40's and the black bear from out back (with whom I have to share the berries) ate the hornets, grubs, food stocks, everything. Nothing was left of the nest but shreds of gray paper. At least I got to pick blackberries from that patch until frost hit. Get a bear, Ivan!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Get a bear, Ivan!

Moonbear! Turbo says this is your job.

 

[turbo]

Moonbear! Turbo says this is your job.

Sure! Hornets are very small, and Moonie's used to tackling much larger beasts - baaaaa.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

http://img.timeinc.net/popsci/images/2007/01/mega_jan07_9.jpg
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/photogallery/54647d505244c010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd/5.html

 

[Evo]

http://img.timeinc.net/popsci/images/2007/01/mega_jan07_9.jpg
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/photogallery/54647d505244c010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd/5.html

Whoa! You found my car!

 

[Moonbear]

So *that's* where all the missing bees have gone! They were just on a road trip. Phew! And here people were worried they were gone for good.

 

[dlgoff]

Oh. That's just my bee power car.