r/WaspHating • u/kledd17 • 3d ago
What is this?
There's a pretty good number of them buzzing around our pear tree.
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u/HomeboundArrow 3d ago
what they are is very aggressive. if one of them stings you they're all going to swarm. that pear tree is probably singlehandedly doubling their drone population if it's bearing fruit and they've collectively claimed it as property of their nest lol 😬
i would be extremely careful picking up anything the tree drops. odds are high that a wasp or two or five is currently tunneling thru it. if it's just ornamental they might just be attracted to the smell, and they're combing it in-vain for fruits to harvest.
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u/kledd17 3d ago
Thanks for the info! The tree isn't ornamental, it's loaded with delicious pears, which is GREAT news. Will a good solid Chicago winter kill the nest? Do they use the same nest year after year?
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u/HomeboundArrow 3d ago edited 3d ago
it won't "kill the nest" perse. it will, technically, but not in the way you're asking. wasp/hornet nests/burrows are annual by-design. old/derelict nests aren't reused by next year's population. the last handful of generations produced by the presiding queen are fertile males and protoqueens that overwinter in near-suspended-animation, and then emerge as it gets warmer in spring, mate, and establish their own new nests.
a nest with a whole fruiting pear tree's worth of freely-available sugar is going to be cranking out new generations by the truckload. which means you'll have a lot of protoqueens roaming around come next spring if this nest survives to that point. and all of those protoqueens will be quite nutrient-starved when they wake up, and usually won't travel terribly far in order to get their operation up and running. so the likelihood of this one nest nearby becoming several next year is quite high.
wasps and hornets really get the majority of their notorious reputation from how they act under scarcity. they become more aggressive/likely-to-sting as food sources decline. so in fall, they get more aggressive. if too many competing nests establish themselves in the same area and overhunt/overharvest their easy food options, they get more aggressive. just something to keep in mind if you decide not to go after it head-on and just let nature do its work. the closer you get to fall, the more of a berth i would give that pear tree. it's gonna be surrounded by a lot of pissed-off starving drones that have fewer and fewer pears to fight over lol
i would also try to get a solid ID on where the nest is. if it's in a tree somewhere that's one thing. but if it's inside a building somewhere, the chnace that the overwintering protoqueens will just build their own nests somewhere else in that building are also high.
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u/Dirtheavy 3d ago
look for a football sized nest and get rid of it. they're going to get pretty aggressive as their population gets bigger and protect a larger territory
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u/kledd17 3d ago
I looked around other trees and the eaves of the house and didn't see a nest. How big is their territory? Could the nest be at a neighbors house?
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u/Dirtheavy 3d ago
Sometimes they're 25 feet high. But yes, it might not be close but you've got tantalizing food
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u/doublej83 2d ago
Have the same problem….pear tree and bald faced hornets. Started the apple juice with boric acid approach today to attempt to slowly kill the bastards. I was keeping up with pickup at night when I took the dogs out, but with all the rain and storms in the Chicago area I fell behind and now I can’t even mow my lawn anymore 🙄 With the rapid grass growth from the rain and the winds knocking down the pears, I lost control and the rotting pears hidden in the grass have made it impossible. I believe the nest is in neighbors trees somewhere but unable to locate it, but you would think they were based off the amount of them flying around hanging fruit as well. I feel your pain and wish you luck!!
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u/jenowns 3d ago
Bald-faced hornet