A French friend called the pompiers to ask them to remove a hornets’ nest and was told that they no longer offer this service at private properties and it was up to her to sort it out privately. Is this true? Thanks
Certainly is the case locally … they did come out to deal with a nest at the school, but it’s up to ordinary folk to deal with stuff on their own property nowadays.
Your Mairie might well have the contact details of a local “exterminator”… if not, yellow pages might…
1 Like
Thank you, I will let her know to go to the Mairie but being French she is probably already at their door 
2 Likes
It’s probably about 20 years ago… I recall seeing men in “spacesuits” wandering in the village. 
We neighbours gathered at a safe distance to watch as these strangelooking folk clambered up ladders to deal with a frelon nest in the chimney of one of the houses.
Being the first time for me… I found it fascinating… some others found it frightening as they mumbled about how many stings would/could be fatal…
When everything was made safe, we all cheered these brave young heros… who would prove themselves just as handy sorting out chimney fires later, as winter progressed… 
I had a huge one in my cherry tree back in 2020. You have to report it to the local mairie who will send an expert round to poison the little b*ggers and in my case, it was the maire adjoint who does it for a living . Had to pay €80 but the Trésor Public repaid it back although now I believe a householder has to pay it with no reimbursement, that needs to be confirmed. I had to get all my cats in, tell the neighbour todo the same and he arrived, suited, booted and masked with a long pole that injected the poison into the nest high up. I was told not to go near for several hours as it takes time to kill them all. Next day there were lots of corpses on the lane and I think perhaps big birds were feasting too. As the weeks went by, the nest began to break down and eventually fell apart on the ground.
2 Likes
Wow! That’s incredible and great info. Friend has confirmed by message the mairie will sort it and she will pay. Hornet killers will be there later today. Meanwhile she is staying safely inside as are all her neighbours whom she alerted early this mornng. 100 euros and worth every centime I would say! 
1 Like
Poison price increase no doubt
Quite possibly you are right there; but I dont think she minds as they are certainly a real worry, especially around the young and elderly and pets. She told me it was worth whatever she got charged and she is French so I believe it is a decent price and she doesn’t want a nest at her place causing problems for others. Nor would I !!
It’s the beginning of September! Wasps and Hornets go a bit doolally as they are dying, and are completely manic about finding sugar. Hang on for a few weeks and they will be gone. We are conscious that they are more aggressive at the moment, so avoid them - we had two in the bedroom last night so turned off the lights, opened all the windows and put outside light on. They went. Earlier in the year we would have captured them in a plastic mug and popped them outside, not now.
These days pompiers will only consider taking action where a next is in a public space, otherwise its for the proprietor to deal with. And maries may or may be helpful.
2 Likes
Our (UK) house was full of them this week - generally we do the same as Jane, a couple had to have a can of Raid pointed their way. I don’t like doing this but they just would not take the hint.
We must have a large nest somewhere this year - lots on our grape vine and the fig tree - they are getting pretty dopey and are crashing around a bit.
They don’t bother us but I’d rather not encourage them. I must remember to set out the traps early next year - beginning of March - to catch next year’s queens.
Same with us. We have a large pear tree right by where we eat outside, and were being bothered by wasps flying to and from the tree. I put a wasp trap out, and was amazed to find it full of hornets, having been completely unaware of their presence. They hadn’t bothered us at all, prior to this, so I felt rather guilty and immediately removed the trap.
Back in Essex we found that our barn owl box wasn’t being used by barn owls, but was occupied by hundreds of hornets, who again didn’t trouble us at all, so we left them undisturbed.
That said I have been accidentally stung by a sleepy hornet years ago,and it was like someone had hit my hand with a hammer.
Hope it’s not too late for a question on this feed. After many infestations this summer I’ve decided to bite the bullet and pay a small fortune to have the house pointed. In your opinion am a wasting a lot of money or will it make a difference? Thanks for your thoughts.
Where have the nests been? Ours are usually in the attics where they get in through the air bricks, and under the eaves. Pointing would make no difference - although we still need to get it done one day!
I agree. They come in under open eaves / tiles on the roof and there are several places where they can start their nests.
One way to control them (somewhat) is to put out the traps in early March when the queens first emerge. It’s the queens you need to get rid of.
I also find it helps to remove enticing food from our proximity. We have a grapevine that goes the length of our veranda, where we like to eat in the evenings and they love the grapes, especially when they start to go over. There comes a moment when I strip the whole vine - we only eat a few bunches and we’re not into making grape juice or wine or anything. It means there are fewer hornets around. They’re not really aggressive and are not normally a problem. This year though with the extended summer and an excessive number of figs there are many more around and I’ll be quite glad when the cold weather catches them.
I have stainless steel mesh over the eaves to stop most critters getting in.
1 Like
I don’t think it would stop hornets - unless very small holes.
We can’t go down to put traps out (what are these?) in early March as we don’t go down until May/June. But is the general consensus against pointing the house - very expensive - or is it a disincentive? I’m at my wit’s end and not looking forward to going again, but obviously will…