Now how did this happen? All summer I have gone about my business and unbeknownest to me, the hornets have quietly gone about theirs. How did I miss this miracle of construction going on right outside my window? How did days come and go and I not notice something was afoot in the crabapple tree? Well, it just goes to show I am totally disconnected to the natural transformations going on around me. What a ninny I am. But maybe it is better I didn't know. Maybe I would have felt like I needed to eradicate them to protect my children or dogs. As it is, we have not disturbed them and they have not disturbed us. Only now that the crabapple has started to drop its leaves did the nest appear. What a marvelous and ingenious structure. It hangs there like some giant, papery fruit.After a little research, I discovered that these are bald-faced hornets,
"Dolichovespula maculata is not a true hornet; hornets belong to the genus Vespa. Bald-faced hornets are more closely related to wasps called yellowjackets in the genus Vespula. Bald-faced hornets build colonies inside large enclosed carton nests that hang from trees, bushes, low vegetation and occasionally from buildings. A single mated queen starts a new nest each spring by laying eggs inside a small carton nest. The eggs turn into larvae and the queen feeds these larvae until they become pupae and then workers. It is the workers that gradually expand the size of this nest until it is larger than a basketball by the end of the summer season.
Workers can be identified from the large patches of white on their face; this character gives them the name, bald-faced hornet. Their abdomen is mostly black with white markings at the posterior tip. This hornet is the largest endemic yellowjacket in North America and it can build nests containing hundreds of individuals. The single queen is deep inside the nest protected by a retinue of loyal workers.
Biology
Bald-faced hornets are common in both wooded and urban areas in New England. Queens start a new nest each spring after the weather warms up in late April or May. The queen finds loose bark, and other paper strips to start a small nest into which she places her eggs. She adds saliva to the paper bark and forms a smooth carton. When painted wood is used to make carton, you can see the color on the outside of the carton nest.
Inside the carton are horizontal layers of comb or hornet cells divided into circular platforms. The outer carton shell is very thin. This means that if this nest is accidentally damaged from the outside by an animal, the paper covering is easily stripped away and a large number of angry, aggressive wasps fly directly toward the intruder and begin to sting. Since the sting is not barbed, a single hornet can deliver a series of painful stings. It is the venom in the sting that is the cause of the pain. Once a victim is stung, the best response is to distance oneself from the hornet nest as quickly and as far apart as possible. Multiple stings often occur close to a nest.
Workers are beneficial in nature, bringing back many caterpillars and other insect prey to the nest. Its historical enemy is the bear and raccoon, and thus these wasps have a very strong sting and aggressive response to protect the nest.
Control
Since there is always a danger from anaphylactic shock from the venom of a hornet, it is good policy to leave pest control of colonies to a professional. Try to find hornet nests as soon as possible in the spring and summer because they only become larger and more aggressive with time. At the end of the season, the carton nest often remains hanging from a tree but the workers have all died out and the newly mated queens have left the nest to over-winter behind the bark of trees.
