moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
It's been covered pretty well, guessing the job is already done but I'll say my bit...
About the eyes, yeah it makes total sense that they would try to disable your eyes, best way to defeat a nest predator. Many animals and birds do this in response to being grabbed by humans, going for the eyes is the best last ditch survival technique.
A bald-faced hornet nest can be approached quite closely without disturbing them. As you all know, the the problem is when you run into it without knowing it's there. Since the nest location is known on the tower it can be approached and easily defeated with a 20' range wasp spray. You can get much closer than 20' without causing them to respond.
About bald-face hornet behavior in general... When I've studied nests I'll use close focus binoculars to watch what's going on at the main opening (there is sometimes more than one opening on the biggest nests). They're primarily triggered to defend by movement near the nest and of course by something actually hitting the nest or supporting branches/structure. On a slow approach they will not become defensive. If you watch the nest opening you can gauge their defensive response or not. There's always a sentry or two at the opening, if they detect danger they'll call for reinforcements. When that happens you'll see 5 or six of them come out and walk around outside the opening. At this point if you stay still they will calm down quickly and go back in. That's all, just by monitoring the sentries you can keep control of the nest response.
Another thing to be aware of is that nest is like an airport, they have favorite routes in and out and use them regularly. A minute or two of observation will tell you what the two or three main flight routes to the opening are. If you are within say 5-10' of the nest and put your head directly in a flight route you'll get smacked and eventually stung if you stay in that position. I've experimented with moving in very close to a nest (low on an understory tree) by keeping my body out of the flight paths, amazing how close I could get with out them getting excited.
And lastly... honeybee keepers are aware of this, social wasp and bee nests/hive have "moods". Some days they're overall angry, most days not. It's easy to detect an "angry" nest, there will be hundreds of of bees or wasps buzzing around the outside of the nest, come back another day.
-AJ
About the eyes, yeah it makes total sense that they would try to disable your eyes, best way to defeat a nest predator. Many animals and birds do this in response to being grabbed by humans, going for the eyes is the best last ditch survival technique.
A bald-faced hornet nest can be approached quite closely without disturbing them. As you all know, the the problem is when you run into it without knowing it's there. Since the nest location is known on the tower it can be approached and easily defeated with a 20' range wasp spray. You can get much closer than 20' without causing them to respond.
About bald-face hornet behavior in general... When I've studied nests I'll use close focus binoculars to watch what's going on at the main opening (there is sometimes more than one opening on the biggest nests). They're primarily triggered to defend by movement near the nest and of course by something actually hitting the nest or supporting branches/structure. On a slow approach they will not become defensive. If you watch the nest opening you can gauge their defensive response or not. There's always a sentry or two at the opening, if they detect danger they'll call for reinforcements. When that happens you'll see 5 or six of them come out and walk around outside the opening. At this point if you stay still they will calm down quickly and go back in. That's all, just by monitoring the sentries you can keep control of the nest response.
Another thing to be aware of is that nest is like an airport, they have favorite routes in and out and use them regularly. A minute or two of observation will tell you what the two or three main flight routes to the opening are. If you are within say 5-10' of the nest and put your head directly in a flight route you'll get smacked and eventually stung if you stay in that position. I've experimented with moving in very close to a nest (low on an understory tree) by keeping my body out of the flight paths, amazing how close I could get with out them getting excited.
And lastly... honeybee keepers are aware of this, social wasp and bee nests/hive have "moods". Some days they're overall angry, most days not. It's easy to detect an "angry" nest, there will be hundreds of of bees or wasps buzzing around the outside of the nest, come back another day.
-AJ
