# Nest reolcation!



## Omnius (Mar 20, 2006)

Well some backround info: I friend of mine was trimming a tree when he accidentally angered a Dolichovespula maculata nest(Bald faced hornet) I was asking about the size of the nest and offered to take it cause hey I am wasp nut, and I wanted to see if i could keep them in captivity as far as I know no one has done work with this species before... this was a few days ago

As of today...

ahahahahaha.... I just bit off more than I could chew LOL the nest is much MUCH larger than a baseball AND I already have it captive yet unattachted to anything, I dont know how I am gonna do this, man these things are as all heck, one that was not captured followed and stung me over 100 feet from the former nest location. Chilling will be the only option they are just too defensive right now, there are 40 to 50 workers on the nest. I dont think I am gonna do anything more with them tonight. Luckily they have crushed crab apples to hold them over till I decide how to tackle this, anyways here are the pics!

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/P...es/100_2910.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/P...es/100_2912.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/P...es/100_2914.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/P...es/100_2915.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/P...es/100_2916.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh195/P...es/100_2918.jpg

The nest also appears to have multiple entrances and exits....(for you non wasp and hornet people this means you cant plug the entrance hole to keep them trapped in their nest also more can swarm out at once in defensice of the nest.) I captured them by hold the KK below the nest as as the branch was cut slam the cover on, it worked failr well only one or two got away. I got stung once and it hurts LOL and they can do it more than once.

Well I think I will chill them down and try to attach them and their nest to a tree outdoors since they are waaaay to jumpy right now.

As of today: 07/29/09

Well its finally done! It was a resounding sucess, this colony will now be able to complete its cycle and add fresh genetics to the gene pool here!

Well its finally done! After 1 hour 90 minutes in the fridge I was just barely able to secure the nest too its new spot, no sooner had I removed the cotton plug then the nastiest defensive swarm I have seen occured, I would say that out of the time only 10 to 15 workers died under my care, this leaves 30+ plus to help restart the colony and I should have tons of new queens, not to mention a pretty nest to collect at the end of the year, I lost my tongs though, I will have to get them at night once they calmed down, as of now I cannot even approach the nest close enough to take photos! Here are the pics!

Here they are using my accidental honey dish that I dropped.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_2923.jpg

Now the nest in the new location with the cotton plug, I wanted pics of the nest without the plug but they were not having that! In a few weeks they will settle down to their normalselves and I should be able to get really good pics, and my tongs back!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_2971.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_2972.jpg

Hopefully the devloping males and queens will not be stunted to their brief stay in captivity.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

Holy Cow. your a brave man trying to tackle the hornets. id run a mile if i saw a nest of them

i loke their asses. black with the white stripes. looks pretty gnarly


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

What a fantastic little story. Very epic! Haha. And I agree that you are very brave to be relocating such a potentially nasty bunch of insects! Did you house them indoors while they were in your care?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

[quote name='Mettle' date='Jul 30 2009, 10:54 AM' post='2401342']
What a fantastic little story. Very epic! Haha. And I agree that you are very brave to be relocating such a potentially nasty bunch of insects! Did you What do you feed hornets? How do you feed without some escaping?


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

that's why some of em died! they got some medicine powder in the honey tray! haha brave man though great deed!


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## Omnius (Mar 20, 2006)

Night time is your friend when dealing with these guys, there defensive responces are not as "vigorious." I kept them outdoors in that cage, in a shaded area. They dont like to be indoors. To be honest I am surprised so few died, they dont handle stress well.

Thye medicine cap was well rinsed BTW









As for feeding them without escaping once again night is a good time to do it, also they dont really think when they are awarming so I had enough time to drop the food through the hatch before they figured it out that. bald faced hhornets are not the brightest bulbs on the tree, especially compared to other wasps who will watch you and then make a plan to react at your next encounter.

One thing is for sure, they remember me still, I cant apporach the nest area without them getting angry, ungrateful bastards, still it was well worth it! 

As for food honey for the adults, as for their live food needs this was tricky as this species is a specialized hornet killer, it eats other species of hornets, though they also take flies. They dont like people food so they dont raid picnics, though they will kill there yellowjacket cousins that show up.

Pics of that here!

http://bugguide.net/node/view/310987/bgimage


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

dont they have a keen sense of smell and smell memory? as in they remember your scent when you were pissing them off so next time you come around they'll know your stinky ass is near haha? i could be totally wrong i though i remember hearing something about this a long while ago.


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## Omnius (Mar 20, 2006)

Well its a failure, the nest got eaten by squirrels and the adults fled, and now have nothing to do. There are no combs left on the nest, and despite the bad weather we had here the nest or whats left of it is still attachted to the tree, all that effort wasted.









I got my tongs back though but thats a small prize.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_3021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_3020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Tleilaxu/100_3023.jpg


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## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

man that's weak! hey at least you tried...more than what i would have done honestly, life's a bitch! haha


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

How did the squirrels not get stung to death wow man that sucks. I hate bees though so I would have prob killed em as soon as I saw em by lighting the hive on fire with axe and a blowtoarch


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## joey'd (Oct 26, 2005)

Trigga said:


> How did the squirrels not get stung to death wow man that sucks. I hate bees though so I would have prob killed em as soon as I saw em by lighting the hive on fire with axe and a blowtoarch


very cool story, but ya, how did it not get stung to death?


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

I cringed looking at the first photo and stopped looking.
This is probably what I fewar the most...bees, wasps, hornets you name it...NO WAY MAN!
I'm a big Puss.
Great pics and documenting man!


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