Builder With a Memory

Hornets Hold A Grudge.

Walking my trail this afternoon, waiting for winter to come, I noticed this hornet’s nest high in a tree. It’s the home of a bald-faced hornet – one of 100,000 different species of wasps (also called yellow jackets). Easy to identify by its single large opening in the bottom, a hornet’s nest really is something to admire – from afar.

Admire – because it's a stunning example of insect engineering. Worker hornets chew up wood fiber and mix it with saliva to make a paper-like pulp and then carefully apply it, layer by layer, to make an insulated structure with cells similar to a bee’s honeycomb. Then they wrap the whole structure with strips of insulating paper and top off the house with peaked extensions and roof tiles. 

From afar – because hornets have an earned reputation for ferocity. They are highly territorial and will attack when they think their nest is threatened. Sensitive to loud noises, smells, and sudden movements, hornets are easily aroused. When disturbed they send out alarm pheromones that attract even more hornets. More frightening, hornets have good recognition and memories of human faces and are likely to chase you down even if you try to run away!

“So, there’s this hornet’s nest. And there’s this long stick. And then there’s me. How I walk away from all of this will depend on whether I realize that some things go together and some things don’t, no matter how hard you try.”

Craig D. Lounsbrough

So, when you’re walking in the woods and you see a hornet’s nest, just put on a mask and walk away slowly.