Hi....When we arrived here in mid September the two glorious grapevines (huge) that adorn the barn wall and hanging with grapes were attracting masses of hornets. The barn wall is a little way opposite the kitchen door and we were absolutely plagued with them....into the evening once lights were turned on...they tried to get indoors.
None of us were stung....but felt quite threatened.
I have since done a bit of googling on hornets and discovered that there is a fairly new visitor here from Asia which is slightly smaller and has red legs and is more aggresive.......I hadn't a clue....so checked out the ones on the vines and yes they are the Asian ones!
Does anyone have any advice on how to cope with them....a guy who did some work here in the garden had over 30 stings and was laid up for a week when he strimmed close to a nest.......
I just want a few ideas on how to live peacably alongside them...They must be a real problem for vineyards?...how do they cope.....I know it's early in the year...but just trying to prepare myself for the onslaught!!
The jars around trees and vines usually have a strong sugar solution that of course is sticky, and the insects go for this instead of the fruit...
Bees have become endangered, get rid of those hornets.
The Pompiers came out (in darkness--using floodlights!) to destroy a nest for us. As my Husband said --where else could the whole village get entertainment for 4 hours for 60 euro!
A nest of Asian hornets normally destroys itself when the queen hornet leaves the nest, usually in end october, november The factor that keeps the community together is missing and the remaining "workers" go crazy, killing each other within a few days.. Hornets don't occupy old nests so there's little chance they might appear in the same spot.
The queen will be hibernating now and start building a new colony somewhere in March or April, depending on the outdoor temperature. Just look out for the appearance of new Asian hornets and try to find the nest. You can try to eradicate it in a very early stage with one of the spray I mentioned. It is powerful enough to kill at 4-6 meters, but be extremely careful. From experience I can safely say that the sting of a wasp is kindergarden stuff compared to those of a hornet. Better is to wait if they are at all a nuisance this year, try to locate the colony check your bank-account and have it destroyed by a pro.
Why do I know all this? I have a large garden and little kids. Hornets are common around here :-(
Due to the current budget problems and the ever expanding number of hornet nests, most "Communes" have ceased to pay for the removal. They pay only when the nest is a nuisance ànd on city-owned grounds. Costs for a removal can be anything between a 100 and 300 Euros
When these Asian hornets are in need of protein for their ever expanding number of larvae they will raid and wipe out entire bee-colonies. Around here there are a lot of bee-keepers that lost halve or more of their bee-hives because of the hornets.
The spray I bought is largely available in any supermarket.The smaller ones may not stock it right now as the season for hornets etc hasn't started yet. Watch for "Guêpes et Frelons" on the etiquette. I bought this one from Bayer.
These little plastic bottles can have many uses, but not to fight of flying vermin. Putting these up will attract them, which is what you try to avoid. The use I know of is as "scarecrow" to ward of birds or as a hatching chamber for ladybirds that will eat those little green ones (forget the english name)
They have stopped doing that around here Suzie, though years ago in Normandy the pompiers turned up to the farm where we were staying and cut a great swathe out of an old apple tree and removed a next. It was quite and impressive site watching the pompier in a full chemical suit pulling great handfuls of hornet nest out of the tree and the chickens eating them as the smoked and sluggish hornets fell to the ground.
Hi Sandy
As has already been said the Asian hornet can be very aggressive and dangerous.In addition they are a menace to the bee population.If you contact "la mairie" they should be able to contact a specialist to deal with them.And as they are considered a menace they normally will cover all charges of getting rid of them.
Suzie
If you feel up to it and you need to get rid of a nest I did the following, with one in my top floor. Dress in thick clothing head to toe elastic bands where sleeves meet gloves, trousers meet wellies etc. Gauze over your face but at least an inch off. Take one strong bin liner, empty the contents of a tube of ant powder into the bag and place the bag round the nest, close your hands around to top and tie. Then just dispose of on a previously lit bonfire. No I haven't got any pics of me dressed like a numpty but it did work and as I discovered the nest in the house at 9 ish at night it was the above option or sleep in the car.
Hi Sandy
Sorry to say, but there is no way of peaceful co-existance with this Asian hornet. If it's the normal hornet then you could. But it's simply too aggressive (and even lethal to little kids, dogs, cats and elderly people) and territorial. If you have a nest in your garden, have it removed; some people try to destroy the nest at the beginning of the season,but it's dangerous since you never know when the season starts. But as its winter now, last years nest will probably be empty so you have to wait for next year to see where they emerge.
An alternative of-course is to cut the vines and replace them by something that doesn't bear fruits. Once the hornets have found a food resource they will return relentlessly.
This year we had not that much hornets in our vineyard but the year before it was worse and we provided the people that worked in it with little spray-cans of "knock-out" that stuns the beast immediately and kills them in seconds. Usually it's only a real problem when there's a nest in the vicinity, the area of vineyards is usually that vast, making the chances of an encounter with a hornet not bigger than one with a wasp, bee or the likes. Think I've been stung about 25 times this year by various species (not a hornet, mind you), it's a part of life and work ;-)