Hornet

scottie52 · September 03, 2017, 07:08:47 PM

I went to check hives this morning and had this sitting at the entrance.

Killed it.

eltalia · September 03, 2017, 07:59:38 PM

Ye have just screwed over the food chain, for a day.
Naughty man you ;-D

Cheers.

Bill

scottie52 · September 03, 2017, 08:06:19 PM

I killed 4 of them. They were killing my bees. If i knew where there nest was i would torch it.

tjc1 · September 03, 2017, 09:13:21 PM

Yeah, this is when I start seeing them around the hives, too. Interestingly, found one dead on the hive entrance yesterday morning. Looked at it under a magnifying glass to see if it had any stingers in it, but didn't see any - maybe they balled it to death...

BeeMaster2 · September 03, 2017, 11:21:15 PM

TJC,
Bees do not lose their stingers when they sting other insects. The barbs are desisigned to stick in mammals not insects.
Jim

herbhome · September 04, 2017, 12:31:00 AM

I have found dead hornets on the bottom board of a hive before. Dragonflies and robber flies get a few also. I believe a strong hive reproduces faster than any damage they can do.

This spring I had a terrible run of luck with virgin queens not making it back from their mating flight. Maybe some clever bird?

sc-bee · September 04, 2017, 12:34:20 AM

Quote from: herbhome on September 04, 2017, 12:31:00 AM
I have found dead hornets on the bottom board of a hive before. Dragonflies and robber flies get a few also. I believe a strong hive reproduces faster than any damage they can do.

This spring I had a terrible run of luck with virgin queens not making it back from their mating flight. Maybe some clever bird?

Here. dragonflies were terrible this year.... say they will hone in on that slow queen...

Eric Bosworth · September 04, 2017, 06:04:39 AM

We have enough deer and horse flies dragon flies leave the bees alone. It is bad enough that I don't even like to go for walks because the biting flies are so bad. Give me dragon flies over biting flies any day.

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tjc1 · September 04, 2017, 09:05:09 PM

Quote from: sawdstmakr on September 03, 2017, 11:21:15 PM
TJC,
Bees do not lose their stingers when they sting other insects. The barbs are desisigned to stick in mammals not insects.
Jim

Thanks for the reminder, Jim - I knew that but forgot! Was thinking of photos of critters that got into hives and were left full of stingers (mouse? frog? reptile of some sort - I forget).