Hornets or Cicada Killers

[SteveP]

I noticed about 7-10 days ago a few large wasps were buzzing around my tomato raised bed. Not really a problem as I know if I leave them alone they seem to ignore me. But sitting outside this morning I am noticing there are now 2-3 dozen buzzing around the garden and are aggressively guarding their area from each other. If one gets with 5' of another one, it will chase the intruder away, return to its RR tie and repeat the process again when another gets near. Are these beneficial or detrimental to my garden?

I have noticed they fly and land on the leaves of a nearby elm tree for a few minutes and then return to fly around the garden. And frankly a few don't bother me, but I don't like the fact that there are now so many seemingly agressively guarding their turf.

I try each year to keep my tomato garden from turning into a jungle, but once again I have failed. I literally have to get on my hands and knees and crawl from plant to plant to harvest the fruit and the thought of being trapped in the jungle confines and being buzzed by these nasty looking monsters is growing less appealing as their numbers and aggressive behavior increases daily. Even though I know from being around them I don't ever remember them being aggressive towards me, sitting here watching them for the last couple of hours kind of freaks me out.

So my question is, eradicate or fuggittaboutit? I also have a large dog that using the backyard to keep the yard fertilized and I am wondering if he could be hurt by them if he gets too close? He is getting pretty old and is a family member of the highest order.

[jmsieglaff]

Cicada killers scare the crap out of me. Those things are huge and do seem to have a protective streak to them. Cicada killers I believe have solitary nests, are protective of their nest, but the majority we see are males and cannot sting. While hornets will live together in a colony. While I don't kill bugs just to do so, if you feel uncomfortable in your garden you won't be enjoying it as much as you could, so I would eliminate them if it was me.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

Cicada killers scare the crap out of me. Those things are huge and do seem to have a protective streak to them. Cicada killers I believe have solitary nests, are protective of their nest, but the majority we see are males and cannot sting. While hornets will live together in a colony. While I don't kill bugs just to do so, if you feel uncomfortable in your garden you won't be enjoying it as much as you could, so I would eliminate them if it was me.

Thank you for your reply. After reading up a little, apparently we are entering the time of year where the females begin nesting in the ground by making tunnels. I am not sure if all the recent activity is females (stingers) or males (no stingers). I covered the entire surface of my garden with black weed mat because I HATE to weed with the only access to the earth being at the base of each plant.

If I do decide to kill them I really am not sure how to go about it. They sure don't spend my time sitting in one place as they are almost constantly buzzing around looking for another one to chase away.

[jmsieglaff]

Originally Posted by SteveP

Thank you for your reply. After reading up a little, apparently we are entering the time of year where the females begin nesting in the ground by making tunnels. I am not sure if all the recent activity is females (stingers) or males (no stingers). I covered the entire surface of my garden with black weed mat because I HATE to weed with the only access to the earth being at the base of each plant.

If I do decide to kill them I really am not sure how to go about it. They sure don't spend my time sitting in one place as they are almost constantly buzzing around looking for another one to chase away.

With whatever method you choose to use to kill them, do it at night when they are in the nest.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

With whatever method you choose to use to kill them, do it at night when they are in the nest.

I have no idea where the nest is, but will keep an eye out and if I find it I will take your advice. I think most of what I am seeing is males guarding their turf and looking for receptive females with which to breed. gosh darnoodley, that sounds familiar.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

Cicada killers scare the crap out of me. Those things are huge and do seem to have a protective streak to them. Cicada killers I believe have solitary nests, are protective of their nest, but the majority we see are males and cannot sting. While hornets will live together in a colony. While I don't kill bugs just to do so, if you feel uncomfortable in your garden you won't be enjoying it as much as you could, so I would eliminate them if it was me.

Like most solitary bees and wasps, cicada killers aren't aggressive toward humans. The males will check out anything that moves during mating season, but they don't sting. You have to pretty much grab a female to get stung, although I guess she could get caught in your clothing and sting as a defense.

Obviously, if allergy is an issue, that's something else, but the sting of a cicada killer is apparently not that painful.

[Worth1]

Harmless creatures lived around them all of my life.
Leave them be.

Worth

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Harmless creatures lived around them all of my life.
Leave them be.

Worth

I agree Worth. I have been around them for my lifetime and they have never caused problems. This morning was the first time I had ever really watched them for a period of time and they just looked aggressive and the sheer number was something I had never seen before.

I am just going to go about my business and will count on them doing the same. Reminds me when I got pulled over a couple of years ago and I informed the policeman that I had a gun and a permit to carry it. He said, "well, if you don't pull yours, I won't pull mine." Seemed to work out fine.

[clkeiper]

I had a European Hornet on my Deck in May... HUGE ugly thing. I sent it (alive) to the extension office to identify. I had never seen one. I have it in a 1 quart jar in these pictures.
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[ATTACH]63992[ can you get a picture for anyone to see it/them? /ATTACH]

[kath]

We saw those for the first time 3 years ago, Carolyn, and they were doing their best to girdle the apple trees. They're really nasty and territorial! We discovered them building a nest last year in a pile of straw bales. Have only spotted one so far this year.

[clkeiper]

Yep... scary! I have never seen one until that night. I have heard they can destroy a hive of bees if there are enough of them close by. Ugh! Hopefully this was a queen and I destroyed the potential for a disaster. I hope to see no more of them.

[Worth1]

I just dont want those killer Chinese things to show up.