These are definitely the dog days of winter. The weather limits my outdoor activities due to my own aversion to cold temperatures. I love shed antler hunting and winter walleye fishing, just not when the temps are so frigid. That’s how and why I ended up going down an internet rabbit hole. 

It began as I was searching for something online. Then I started watching a video clip of a guy who found a hornet nest. The more I watched, the more intrigued I became. I learned that hornets do not re-use nests. Each nest can house up to 700 hornets.

A few years ago, I came across a nest that was easily accessible, so I cut the branch that was supporting it and hauled the entire thing home. It brought a little feel of the woods to the Dave Cave. Because I found it during a cold weather month the nest was empty; nobody was home.  

At the time I re-purposed the abandoned nest I wondered: where did all the hornets go? Well, I found that answer on the internet. Most of the workers simply die off in the fall leaving behind only the queen who buries herself into a decaying log or under some bark for cover. The queen, having carried enough eggs with her to start a new colony in the spring, sleeps off the winter while waiting to start a new generation when the weather warms.  

The exterior of a hornet nest feels like a thin piece of paper. It is truly a unique piece of engineering. How the paper mâché-like shell is made is fascinating. The hornets chew wood and then mix it with their own saliva to form a pulp which becomes the outer shell of the nest.

How do you know if you’re looking at a hornet nest or a wasp nest? The simple/quick answer is that a hornet nest is rounder or egg shaped. A wasp nest can look similar but is more often umbrella like in shape and smaller.

If you approach a nest while it is occupied, you need to be careful. Unlike bees who can only sting once, hornets can sting multiple times. Their venom is usually lower grade than a bee’s but the threat of getting stung multiple times by 700 hornets is a threat that should be taken seriously.

Did you know that you can buy a hornet nest on eBay? You can, and the prices are all across the board. The least expensive nest was around $40, while the most expensive nest was $400. A number of shipping options are available too. How they successfully package this fragile house of cards has to be a marvel in packaging engineering.

My deep internet dive on hornet nests provided some interesting facts. It also soaked up a very, very cold afternoon to get me one day closer to warmer weather. By the way, and if you are interested, l have a new listing on eBay.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook or at  ottwithdavebeck on Instagram for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at dave@piercecountyjournal.news Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @thepiercecountyjournal