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Hornets - Life cycle and stings
The fertilised Queen Hornet (Vespa Crabro) will come out of hibernation in the spring when the weather starts to warm up, usually about April time, she will leave the place she’s been hibernating and will go off to search for a suitable place to build her own nest. Only the Queen Hornet's are around at this time.
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| The start of a Hornets Nest |
When a suitable site has been found, the Queen Hornet will start building her nest, she does this by stripping wood from trees, fences, rafters and such like, and mixing it with her saliva to make a pulp. She will attach this to something solid where her nest is to be built. The first part of the nest the Queen hornet builds is a stalk shaped pole called a petiole which will be the centre of the hornets nest. She then attaches cells, about thirty or so, to the petiole. Once this is done it will be time for the Queen Hornet to start laying her eggs.
The first eggs the Queen Hornet lays will all be female and have the potential themselves of becoming Queens in case anything happens to the original Queen. The Queen Hornet is in complete control of the sex of her young. When the eggs hatch the Queen will forage for food to feed the larvae. Insects, spiders and caterpillars are a favourite for wasp larvae. The Queen Hornet feeds this to the larvae in a liquid form, it is so rich in protein, the larvae, will soon grow. When the larvae are ready, they will undergo metamorphosis and transform into worker Hornets, they cover their individual cells with a silk cap and pupate, the same as caterpillars do to become butterflies. Please click here for more information
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| A Hornet ready for flight |
A few weeks later the first Hornets are ready to take over the duties of building the nest and feeding the new larvae that the Queen will devote her entire time producing. All worker Hornets are female and they will now have to carry on building the nest so it can grow, the Queen Hornet will continue to lay new eggs everyday, so it is essential to enlarge the nest.as soon as possible.
The worker Hornets will also have to feed the larvae, once the larvae are fed, a sweet substance is secreted and the adult Hornets will feed on this sweet substance, a reward if you like, keeping harmony in the nest. Another vital role for the worker Hornets is to collect water, not only for drinking but to help keeping the nest cool in the summer months. This cycle is continued until the nest reaches its optimum size, anywhere between 500 and 1,000 Hornets, even larger in some cases. Please click here for the life cycle of wasps
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| A small Hornet's Nest |
The original Queen will now stop producing eggs and die; this is when the remaining Hornets can become a menace to man. They are no longer being fed the sweet substance secreted by the larvae that they crave, so they go in search for it, rotting fruit is top of the list. and hornets can often be found in fallen apples and pears. Many a person has been stung when taking a bite out of an apple and ended up with a mouthful of hornet and a sting to the mouth is not uncommon and is extremely painful. Please click here for our stings and treatments information.
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| Nice Hornet close up |
Hornets are not as aggressive as wasps and their stings are no more poisonous, however, they are a lot more painful because the sting is much longer and can easily penetrate the muscle. Both Hornets and Wasps can sting multiple times so extra care really does need to be taken when approaching either a Wasps nest or a Hornets nest.
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| Hornets Nest in a tree |
If you would like any advice regarding Hornets, Bees or Wasps then please feel free to visit our website. We have an abundance of information on all three species and also have a useful stings and treatments page if you have been stung, giving advice on useful remedies and precautions that can be taken during the summer months when Hornets and Wasps are at their most annoying.
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