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The Hormets of March
17 years ago
General
For the greater part of last year we had a fair-sized hornets nest over the front door without having any problems with the buzzing critters. Perhaps it was due to their familiarity from the start with our coming and going, or perhaps due to my confronting them early on with a choice of leaving us alone or getting the hose. Anyhow it was all cool, and I don't think the Elderly Parent was ever aware of their presence, even though he passed under the nest many times during the year. They were black hornets, which probably helped as they tend to be better to have around than the more irritable reds. The nest was presently vacated back in December and soon came down.
This past Sunday, while in the kitchen I noticed one of this year's generation of black hornets crawling fitfully inside the window. Now, the kitchen window is in two horizontal parts: the top is fixed and the bottom moves up to let in outside air through a metal screen, and it was in the lower section that the hornet had trapped itself. The screen was torn in several places at the bottom and this was where the hornet had gotten in; it was now angrily going back and forth at the top where the screen was intact. After a few minutes of this I left it to its own devices, assuming that it would eventually make its way to the bottom and freedom.
Well, y'know, it didn't. It was still there the next morning. Seeing how things stood, I got a glass tumbler and a flat object, and opened the window enough for the hornet to climb over the frame onto the upper window where I trapped it under the glass and released it outside.
A bit later I returned to the kitchen to find a hornet, perhaps the same one, buzzing angrily inside the same window, pacing back and forth just as before. This time I went outside with a screwdriver, pried the screen from its place (with the hornet still clinging to it - I shook it off and it went away on its business) and replaced the screen upside down. This way, any hornets that got in will find their escape route right there before them.
A couple of days later and no more hornets in the window. It worked, I guess.
I'll eventually repair or replace the screen. Ah, well...
This past Sunday, while in the kitchen I noticed one of this year's generation of black hornets crawling fitfully inside the window. Now, the kitchen window is in two horizontal parts: the top is fixed and the bottom moves up to let in outside air through a metal screen, and it was in the lower section that the hornet had trapped itself. The screen was torn in several places at the bottom and this was where the hornet had gotten in; it was now angrily going back and forth at the top where the screen was intact. After a few minutes of this I left it to its own devices, assuming that it would eventually make its way to the bottom and freedom.
Well, y'know, it didn't. It was still there the next morning. Seeing how things stood, I got a glass tumbler and a flat object, and opened the window enough for the hornet to climb over the frame onto the upper window where I trapped it under the glass and released it outside.
A bit later I returned to the kitchen to find a hornet, perhaps the same one, buzzing angrily inside the same window, pacing back and forth just as before. This time I went outside with a screwdriver, pried the screen from its place (with the hornet still clinging to it - I shook it off and it went away on its business) and replaced the screen upside down. This way, any hornets that got in will find their escape route right there before them.
A couple of days later and no more hornets in the window. It worked, I guess.
I'll eventually repair or replace the screen. Ah, well...
