sorry about the stings,ive had them and they are painful..mine itched like crazy when they started to heal..got a guy that will buy the real big paper nests for a hundred bucks apiece...I wait for a real cool night then slip a pair of doubled up garbage bags over the nest ,tying it tight at the top so no hornets can get out.then I saw the limb off and put it in the deep freeze for a week to kill them..no damage to the nest that way....
That's what I am hearing, they're worth some good $$!!
If you get a good one spray it with hair spray... aqua net if you can find it. Will protect it for a long time if you want to sell it. And yes they bring good money!
We call those black hornets around here... and they are nasty mean defenders of the nest. Known for stinging people right between the eyes.
I got near a nest one time (they were sort of hidden in a cedar tree about head high) and I was cutting a tree right beside it with a hatchet. By the time I heard them buzzing and looked around there were already several headed my direction. I got stung 5-6 times on the back and back of the neck while running for all I had trying to get away from them.
The stings will itch bad for a while after the initial intense pain is over (as Chief said).
A few years ago I was walking around a hillside looking for seng and as I got near to a small tree I noticed something that did not look right out of the corner of my eye.. and looked up and I was standing less than 10' from a big old nest of them. There was 5-6 of them lined up around the hole and they were looking hard at me.
I stopped and then slowly walked bakwards and managed to get away with no stings. I bet if I had taken another 1 or 2 steps in their direction they would have attacked.
I always keep my eyes pealed for them while hunting seng.
We have a yellow hornet around here that is about 2x the size of those black hornets.. they mostly nest in hollows in trees, where the black ones build paper nest out in the open like that. I have never been stung by the big yellow hornet, but my nephew has and he said it was awful. They have a stinger on them near 1/4 inch long. Looks more like a dagger.
One things for sure Maya... you only have to deal with those critters 1 time to gain a healthy respect for them.
TN,
I have been hit by one of those yellow ones! Back in high school while topping tobacco, I ran my hand down in a top and it got me between my middle and ring finger. My hand swelled up like a water balloon and it being in mid July about 2 o'clock it made me sick as a dog. I kept on working because I never would have lived it down from my buddies if I quit. I would like to say it was my grit, but stubbornness and the dread of aggravation was the cause of that one. Clearly I was allergic to it, nothing else has made me sick after being stung except for one of those saddle back worms. Those yellow hornets make a believer out of you quick.
Yeah, that hurts. Those buggers can sting you multiple times, without losing the stinger. I agree, a pressure washer is NOT the thing to use on them. Maybe a flaming arrow would work... Would give them something to distract them with the burning. still, would get away after the shot.
aloe is great for the stinging, and then there's always bourbon... LOL
