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Eddie Arnold of Aberdeen puts his hand on the side of
a hornets nest hanging from a tree in his front yard. (Ray Van Dusen)
“We’ve never had this problem before. We’ve gotten close to it, but the hornets have never been aggressive,” Dianne said.
Her brother, who is a biologist with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, told the couple the insects will go dormant in the wintertime, but until then the buzz is consistent around the hive as it steadily gets bigger.
“They’re friendly unwelcome guests. I’ll usually see several hornets flying in and out of it working to make it even bigger,” Eddie said.
When the cold weather of wintertime sweeps in, only a number of young queen hornets survive the first frost.
Those surviving the cold find a safehaven, like the inside of a tree trunk, to wait out the season and the arrival of spring for the process to begin all over again.
ray.vandusen@journalinc.com