The Bald-faced Hornet
The general name hornet is often misrepresented for just about any species of large, ferocious looking and stinging insect. Bald-faced hornets are social insects, although not true hornets. They live in colonies that may contain between 50 and 500 members at their peak. They usually appear in late spring and by mid-summer their populations are largest. Like most hornets and wasps, these hornets do not reuse their nests season after season. Bald-faced hornets build paper nests at least one meter off of the ground, usually in trees and shrubs and can be as large as 38 cm in diameter and more than 1 meter in length. These warriors are belligerent and will attack anything that invades their space with their smooth stingers, stinging over and over again. Their stings also carry venom that makes the stings hurt, itch and swell for about 24 hours (trust me on that one). If you find a bald-faced hornet nest contact a local licensed pest management professional.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bald-faced-hornet-randy-bilesky?published=t
http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-the-bald-faced-hornet-1.14367454
