Season of the bald-faced hornet: It's over!

photo by Jonathan Schechter

Their season in the sun is over.
 But before you take down an 'empty' nest for a den decoration know this: Once in awhile a few hornets 'forgot to die' and  hang on into November in the papery cells. Warmth in a heated den 
will send  them boiling out with an attitude and taser like powers of pain, a lesson I learned years ago.  If you want to take a nest inside for a natural gift of the wilds before winter winds and chickadees blow and peck the nest apart wait until  heavy frosts  and then cut the limb and place
the nest in a plastic bag  for a day inside to make  sure you
don't hear buzzing and crawling.

And where is the queen hornet?  She is snuggled up under a decaying log or wood chips in
your garden. She is fertile and ready to start a new season of bald-faced hornets next spring.