Hi all,

I usually encounter hornets or yellow jackets every few years. And usually they find me before I find them (ugh!). But live and let live. We live somewhat in the country, so I can manage to avoid them for a few months, then they are gone ~September. Usually I find them in wild forsythias, or large juniper bushes. Mostly southern facing.

This year the hornets showed up in the Dear Wife's veggie garden. And she forgot to tell me. I walked out there, didn't even know there was a nest, just walked by it, and one stung me. The nest was pretty big (for mid-June). I had to kill them, being in such a bad location. So I sprayed with Black Flag Commercial (for Wasp, Hornet & Yellow Jacket). After I removed the nest, I saw that it had 50 or 60 large larvae in it. I think it was going to be a very large nest.

My camera wasn't working until this morning, so I don't have pics of the nest. But here is a pic of the shed. I just had to kill them.

I called Black Flag. They said that no vegetables could be planted within 8 feet for a period of one year. Does that sound reasonable? The stakes in the middle of this pic have tomatoes on them. Do we need to discard some of these tomato plants?

Your thoughts?

Thanks

tom

Note: very strange that this location is western facing rather than the hotter southern facing. But on the other hand, this garden has a 6,000 volt electric fence system. (visible but blurry in the pic). No black bear can climb over it. It is possible that the hornets can know that (guaranteed - no black bears)? And that is why they wanted to be on the tool shed? Come on, no way! :)

{{gwi:431079}}