Info about hibernation of queen vespa crabro please

[gillyb]

Hi, I'm a new member and found a very large dead hornet whilst sweeping under a sofa - I've googled and id'd it as a vespa crabro queen - she's absolutely beautiful - but I have no idea how she ended up under my sofa - where she may have been hibernating. The room does have a door to the outside. I live in Bucks and there are oak, birch and hawthorn trees at the bottom of the garden. Any info welcome. Many thanks.

[Dogghound]

Likely it hibernated in your house and could not get out, or it simply flew into the house got trapped and could not get out resulting in it starving.

[gillyb]

I wonder if she'd been hibernating in the house, that particular door isn't open that often. Would she have just come in for the warmth?

[Dogghound]

Its likely to have come in as your house is a dry sheltered hibernation site. The problem is if it was warm to early due to central heating this could have woken her up at an unatural time of year.

[gillyb]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated . She fascinates me, reading about them, she looks SO fierce and yet they are the least aggressive wasps.

Another question, if she had hibernated in my house, and survived, would other wasps have joined her to build a nest in the house, or would she have made her way outside? Thanks again.

[Dogghound]

She would have most likely built a nest in a hollow tree, nest box, underground or less likely in an open position on a tree (which is not common). The queen would start to buld a nest a raise workers to help her and as the colony builds she will simiply provide more wasps and not participate in nest building etc.

[gillyb]

Thanks for all the info, Dogghound. Really interesting.