Asiatic hornets

[ajm]

Just had the commune in to treat a huge nest about 40cms across very high up in a walnut tree. We hadn't seen it but were told by a friend who was passing by. The biggest the guy had seen and he used a long pole to inject the stuff directly into the nest

[Lori]

Horrible things they are. Glad you got it sorted. Not a job I would want.

[ajm]

Super service. They were only told yesterday afternoon and he turned up about 0930

[ajm]

Just had another look it's nearer 60cms diameter.

[Lori]

That's enormous !! Scary !

[exile]

I would guess that the rapid reaction is in response to 2 factors:-
destruction of honey bee colonies
now is the time when the hornets start to produce new queens which will later leave the nest, overwinter and then create new nests of their own next year.

[demi]

Lat year, about this time, I had an Asiatic hornets nest in my shed. I informed the mairie (who pay half the cost) at 1000H and someone was round chez moi at 1500 to destroy it. Amazing service.

[ajm]

Lat year, about this time, I had an Asiatic hornets nest in my shed. I informed the mairie (who pay half the cost) at 1000H and soeone was round chex moi at 1500 to destroy it. Amazing service.

How much?

[demi]

From memory it was about 45euros that I paid.

[widge]

Back in about 2008, we had a European hornets nest in the gable end wall , luckily we discovered it while it was still small, this was mainly due to the odd one appearing in our attic bedroom at midnight, attracted by the light, i caught them in a jar and disposed of them, but we heard that the pompiers were equipped to deal with the nest, so I flagged down a neighbour (who is a pompier) to ask who I contact to get it removed, he said the pompiers, so that will be me.

He turned up the next evening with all the gear, he didnt manage to complete the job the first time, it was a bit tricky being in a stone wall, so we had to call him back. He came back and finished off a couple of evenings later.

He wouldn't accept any money so we gave him a few cans of beer.

But he did explain that the pompiers used to remove nests for free, but they had so many wasted call outs, due to somebody having the odd hornet flying around their house, and calling them out, that they put a charge of 90€ for the job.

I think the main issue, for both the European and asian hornet, (if you discount the bee issue), is if you disturb a nest, we have them fly round us when we are eating or having a drink on the terrace, and just ignore them, they soon get disinterested and fly off.

A neighbour of a friend did have a nasty experience, he moved a large wooden barrel that must have had an asian hornets nest in it, and they all came flying out the cork hole in the side, luckily for him he was behind the barrel, unlike his wife and small dog. they killed his dog, and put his wife in hospital, luckily for her the dog was there, as it running around attracted the most attention.

We dont like doing it, but, we do put hornet traps out in the spring to try and catch queens. Just to reduce the local population a bit.