Hornets?

[derekmc]

Morning everyone -

I've just been reading some of the other threads, in particular the one about the Hornet Moth, and it's suddenly struck me that I've only seen one Hornet (Vespa Crabao) this summer.

Last year we had quite a few nests not too far from here, in old trees and rabbit holes. There was even one in a bird nest box at our local reserve!

I'm not sure if I've just been unlucky, or if the same thing is happening in other parts of the country. If this is a general trend, then does anyone know why Hornets are struggling in 2008 when they did so well last year?

Thanks
Derek

[Wild-Woman]

I've seen a couple this year. They were 2 separate locations. One came up to investigate me so I think I may have been near a nest.

[jennyb]

Interesting. I saw them regularly in my garden last summer but hardly at all this year. Once or twice maybe.

Jenny

[eucera]

Hmmmm Interesting observations.

I have lived in hornetdom for a while and I tend not to notice them except either very early in the season (May) when the queens are nest prospecting, or in the Autumn when colony sizes are large and the new generation of sexuals is being produced. That being said, I had 3 records in Salisbury last August in a trap I had set as part of a European social wasp project and I have none this year....

Incidentally, your record of a nest in the ground is extremely unusual. Ground nesting is very rare, and usually, the hornets find the cavities too small and relocate to an aerial site mid-season.

[GuyF]

I'm pretty sure that I've got Hornets nesting in my bat box so at the moment I'm seeing a lot of them flying around the garden, more than previous years. It makes moth trapping quite tricky as I often end up with 3 or 4 angry Hornets buzzing around the light!
Guy

[naturegirl]

Happily, I've seen lots of Hornets this year!

Not sure why, maybe it's because I'm always on the lookout for any sort of wildlife.

I've also been plagued by wasps as my neighbour had a HUGE wasp's nest which apparently went almost half way under her bungalow!

Since the council have dealt with it I only get a few now.

Naturegirl

[demicav]

I've never been fortunate enough to see a Hornet. I don't think they're found this far North. In Deven a few weeks ago though we passed a tree that had a sign saying "keep clear from tree. There are Hornets nesting". I stood back and waited for a few minutes but never saw any so my hopes were dashed.

[aeshna5]

I've seen few this year. Saw 1 at Pagham last Saturday.

[derekmc]

Eucera -

I had no idea that ground nesting was unusual in this species. This particular nest was at our local nature reserve (Hosehill Lake LNR) and seemed to be active for most of the summer. I do remember seeing hornets killing & eating a male Black-Tailed Skimmer dragonfly in early August, and this nest was the closest one to the scene.

It was a substantial rabbit hole - about 10-12mms at the entrance - and on slightly raised ground, so it didn't get submerged in last year's floods.

However, there's no sign of their having returned. As I mentioned in the original post (and as Jenny has confirmed) there seem to be few hornets in Berkshire this year. Last year we had 3 - possibly 4 - nests at Hosehill but there's been none in 2008, nor any signs of queens looking for new nest sites.

It's intriguing to see that other parts of the country still have hornets in good numbers.

Derek

[derekmc]

Naturegirl -

The local scarcity of hornets is still bugging me (sorry about that!)

Hope this isn't too much of a personal question, but where do you live? I'm intrigued as to why you've got so many in your part of the country, but Jenny & I have seen hardly any this year.

Thanks.
Derek