Holy chit, remember those insanely vicious giant asian hornets Jay told us about?

Tree09 said:
Cicada killer
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Not sure how accurate this is, regarding the writer’s insistence that the giant hornet will absolutely not be in NY or PA or NJ. Sounds overly confident, and I’m not the expert... but isn’t it possible?
I’ve seen these before, not many different 2” wasps in north east, they weren’t aggressive.
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I think that's probably right, but with global commerce, who really knows? We could end up with a nest over here, and it just hasn't been found yet.

They also didn't mention the European hornet, which we definitely have. I've been particularly blessed the last few years. They like nesting in my house.
 
The cicada killers are a solitary wasp, and won't sting you unless you try to pick them up or something. They love freshly disturbed dirt, which is where i first encountered them on a ditch job. I about ran away like a little girl screaming until another guy told me what they were. In summer when working pipeline i see them almost daily. I don't know if the new kind will go that far that fast, but i would guess it's unlikely.
 
cory said:
Mick that is scary. How'd the exterminator get to them?
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The usual ways like ladders and long poles don't work due to the height, often around 70'.
Rope access is a useful alternative. Some climbers bought the protective equipment and sell this new activity. But for myself, I'm not tempted at all to get up there and mess with them.
The non climbing exterminators have a new toy : A modified paint ball rifle on a stand and a bunch of balls filed with liquid insecticide instead of paint.
Let's have some fun ! About 20 on average for a nest with a clear path (if he's good enough shooter). Very effective but a bit costly.
 
cory said:
Um, the OP.

Mick that is scary. How'd the exterminator get to them?
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Sorry, missed this.

He turned up with ladders and a pole with an insecticide bomb thing at the end.
As it turned out he couldn’t safely reach it, so the lads and client sat in the vans with the windows shut, I dropped the tree and ran to the van, he walked up to the fallen tree in full gear and nuked the nest.

No réal bother, but the wait cost me another day on the job, better than dying in agony I guess!
 
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  • #33
Mick I'm surprised the bloody blokes didn't attack when they felt the saw vibrations on the tree.

Were you planning on falling the tree all along or did that become the plan after the nest was found?
 
cory said:
Mick I'm surprised the bloody blokes didn't attack when they felt the saw vibrations on the tree.

Were you planning on falling the tree all along or did that become the plan after the nest was found?
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I was dismantling it, but due to the nest the client agreed to a fell even though there was some collateral (a rhododendron iirc)

What was weird is that it wasn’t the hornets nest that caught my eye initially, there was a wood pigeon’s nest not 3ft from it up there. I looked at the pigeon coming and going and thought “o bugger” as it alway pisses me off killing baby birds. It was only then I saw the hornets moving and the spherical nest.
 
With the Asian hornet (an invasive species here) it’s not the size, it’s smaller than our European hornet, its the aggression to us and the different way it attacks bee hives, which the bees can’t defend, apparently.
 
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  • #40
Geezus!! Humans!!
 
Cicada killers act about like they have a certain amount of intelligence .They somehow know when a chainsaw comes out they might hang around for a treat .They might hover around just out of reach and look on at what's going on .The cicada larva lives deep inside a rotting log which without outside help they can't reach .They won't bother you but because of their size they can be nerve wracking the first you see them .
 
I had never seen/ noticed them before i started a big underground job years ago, and yes they are rather intimidating. It took several days of older guys explaining that they won't mess with you before i believed them lol
 
Would love to release a hive of these hornets amidst some groups of these mobs burning up dealerships and businesses in various cities.
 
SkwerI said:
Reminds me of a line out of an old movie- "When a man seeks revenge, he needs to dig two graves."
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It's not revenge. A few stings are less than they deserve for assault, arson, theft.

One hive puts nobody in the grave, but disperses a spanking from nature.
 
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