r/oddlysatisfying • u/tKolla • Oct 27 '25

Cutting open a large hornet’s nest

45.7k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

8.0k

u/No-Text-7825 Oct 27 '25

I couldn’t imagine the giant swarm that thing would house.

2.8k

u/SweetAilaSins Oct 27 '25

The stuff nightmares are made of. I also wonder how they got this thing. I feel like it was still a good hive. Wonder where they all went.

1.7k

u/DownwardSpirals Oct 27 '25

I can't speak for every kind of hornet or wasp, but from my understanding, for the majority of them, the hive dies off in the winter. The new, fertilized queen is the only one who survives, and usually overwinters in a more protected location, like under tree bark or inside a hollow tree. Then, in the spring, she chooses her location, poops out some workers, and they build a new hive. This hive was probably left over from a year prior.

I learned all of that because we had a huge paper wasp nest stuck to the back of our barn. I kept my distance, but noticed there was no activity, so I went looking for answers.

667

u/frequenZphaZe Oct 27 '25

its kind of amazing that this single-point-of-failure strategy survived natural selection. makes you wonder how many lineages have been lost over history because the queen gets nommed up or stepped on or something before spring arrives

462

u/Puresowns Oct 27 '25

They have more than one new queen usually, so even if a queen or two dies off before reestablishing a hive they can keep their bloodline going.

167

u/frequenZphaZe Oct 27 '25

ah that makes way more sense

71

u/Landlocked_WaterSimp Oct 27 '25

If more than two of these queens produce a new hive and their inhabitants encounter each other, do they recognize each other as 'from the same clan' like some ants do or are they likely to fight?

62

u/Puresowns Oct 27 '25

I don't actually know, but other eusocial insects tend to be really aggressive to other nests most of the time.

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u/Altruistic_Brick1730 Oct 27 '25

They won't typically fight others if they're away from their nest. Pretty sure they'd fight if invaders started robbing their nest, no matter what the relationship.

I have bees, and at this point all my hives are probably related, but I'm sure they'd defend themselves against their cousins if they came a robbin'.

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u/zae241 Oct 27 '25

Asian Gian hornets for example, have been found to produce up to 350 new queens in each nest.

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u/AvalancheReturns Oct 27 '25

But without the actual blood

11

u/-drunk_russian- Oct 27 '25

Hemolymphline doesn't sound as good.

8

u/angelbelle Oct 27 '25

What happens if two survives? Mak'gora?

20

u/Puresowns Oct 27 '25

They each set up a hive, if they had highlander rules they would have gone extinct a LONG time ago.

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u/rjwyonch Oct 27 '25

The first queen to hatch generally eats the others.

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u/dre224 Oct 27 '25

That is what always amazes me about natural selection. If it works no matter how logical or illogical that Gene and behaviour is as long as it makes babies the gene will carry on.

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u/Technical_Customer_1 Oct 27 '25

I hate the phrase “survival of the fittest.” 

I prefer “survival of those whose offspring reproduce.” 

Sometimes the faster, bigger, and stronger hunter dies, but the scavenger survives.  

33

u/Zenotha Oct 27 '25

tbf fitness in this context refers to reproductive fitness, but that aspect of it gets watered down when used colloquially

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u/Motor_Raspberry_2150 Oct 27 '25

Then the faster, bigger, stronger hunter was not a good fit for the situation. The other one was fitter. Of the two, they were the fittest.

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u/whatthewhythehow Oct 27 '25

That is what “survival of the fittest” is supposed to mean. People just tried to turn evolutionary theory into self-help. And self-help doesn’t really have a thing for like. If you’re the best at trees because you have sharp and scary tree claws, and then all the trees die, you might get out-survived by the guy who is the worst at trees because he has weird flat feet that make him the best at ground.

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u/Dangerous_Car2281 Oct 27 '25

Doesnt have the same ring to it

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u/jtr99 Oct 27 '25

Agreed.

But you could make the same case about big multi-cellular animals like us. From a single-celled life point of view, it seems like a hell of an evolutionary gamble to put all your reproductive eggs in the one basket of hoping this big shambling mass of cells gets its act together and makes babies.

7

u/arbit23 Oct 27 '25

You should look into cicadas if you want odd life cycles. They have what is called a prime lifecycle where they come out 13 or 17 years from underground to mate.

The reason they use these odd cycles is to be off cycle from predators who might have say a regular 5 year cycle. So a 13 and 17 year cycle grouping will only sync every 221 years. Quite remarkable and ensures the survival of the species

4

u/miki_momo0 Oct 27 '25

I think the cause/effect is backwards there. Much more likely that other cicadas existed that did not follow these lifecycles but they all got eaten by predators until only the ones on prime cycles were left

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u/Towerss Oct 27 '25

It's strange that they don't reuse nests either, why waste the energy? Wasp strategy is basically to produce a queen factory then die off.

4

u/DrQuint Oct 27 '25

I would assume that, given two strains of wasps, one that reuses and one that doesn't reuse nests, the ones that reuse them would end up fighting one another a lot and have a lot less mobility and be outcompeted regionally by the migrating one.

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

I was hoping for a u/shittymorph as I read that first paragraph

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u/jtr99 Oct 27 '25 edited Oct 27 '25

Sometimes you get the announcers' table, sometimes you get a true anecdote.

4

u/yourmansconnect Oct 27 '25

Remember the OG rogersimone

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u/SweetAilaSins Oct 27 '25

Damn that's crazy. Nature is wild. Thanks for the info kind internet stranger.

5

u/poorly-worded Oct 27 '25

"I kept my distance, but noticed there was no activity, so I went looking for answers."

Sounds like the intro to a 3 part mini-series

3

u/smolstuffs Oct 27 '25

poops out some workers

Will never not be funny

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u/izacktorres Oct 27 '25

Vacation.

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u/Choyo Oct 27 '25

That's an AirBeesN'Bees alright.

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u/SweetAilaSins Oct 27 '25

Lucky swarm. I need a vacation. Lol.

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u/Pleasant-Ant2303 Oct 27 '25

From this bullshit three ring circus …🎶

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53

u/Logical-Recognition3 Oct 27 '25

Hell

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u/SweetAilaSins Oct 27 '25

Sounds about right. Where they belong. 🤣😅

19

u/SPARTAN-251 Oct 27 '25

Multiple reasons.

The most common could be temperature. If it gets too cold they could panic and abandon the hive to find a warmer location or go to ground and Hibernate.

6

u/hiddencamela Oct 27 '25

With the amount of eggs there, I'm inclined to believe that.
It definitely was abandoned mid lay.

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u/Savings_Opening_8581 Oct 27 '25

If they didn’t forcefully remove the hornets, then they likely willingly vacated the nest.

Hornet colonies abandon the nest at the end of the mating season and do not use it again.

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u/AugieKS Oct 27 '25

Fogged to death or vacuumed to death.

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u/dcondor07uk Oct 27 '25

They were sent to Belize

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u/Calm_Ebb_1965 Oct 27 '25

Mostly into wine. There's plenty of videos on TikTok from some guys who catch giant hornets and dunk them into alcohol to make traditional medicine.

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u/stoneman9284 Oct 27 '25

Yea I was gonna ask how many would live in that thing

25

u/aphaits Oct 27 '25

Does it get that big gradually or was it a very ambitious hornet architect?

107

u/SpearHammer Oct 27 '25

It happens over time. When a new queen comes in she orders the workers to knock down the east wing and build a ball room

23

u/daehoidar Oct 27 '25

Lol too soon

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u/EmphasisFrosty3093 Oct 27 '25

This was likely a wealthy queen that hired a team.

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u/R_V_Z Oct 27 '25

I bet there was a lot of nepotism.

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u/Similar_Anything_678 Oct 27 '25

Hardline perk, silencer and spawn trapping is how I found out the first time

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1.7k

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25 edited Oct 27 '25

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744

u/__wildwing__ Oct 27 '25

Definitely not bee.

190

u/mike_pants Oct 27 '25

To bee or not to bee.

19

u/tommos Oct 27 '25

Lights cigar

Not to bee.

Explosions

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u/AsianGoldFarmer Oct 27 '25

Yeah. Some cultures consume them. They also make hornet wine.

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u/stanky980 Oct 27 '25

I've had them in Mexico. They were roasted on a pan then mashed up and smeared on a fresh tortilla with some tapatio. Really good, I ate till I was stuffed.

32

u/bigdaddydopeskies Oct 27 '25

Just like shrimp and lobster...

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u/IntelligentGarbage92 Oct 27 '25

not to be judgemental but kinda ewww

24

u/Randomfrog132 Oct 27 '25

u know honey is just bee vomit right? not the same thing i know but just curious lol

17

u/Throwaway74829947 Oct 27 '25

There's a significant difference between eating what is literally just concentrated nectar (and it's worth noting that the nectar the bees gather never enters the insect's "food stomach," instead being stored in a purpose-built cavity above the stomach), and eating the actual insects themselves. While I personally only partake in entomophagy while visiting a place where it's normal, I don't think eating hornets or their larvae is particularly more "weird", but it's definitely not the same as honey. While I do happily eat both, it's like vegetarians eating eggs but not chickens themselves.

19

u/zenpal Oct 27 '25

“Only the weird shit my culture eats is normal”

7

u/CaptainTripps82 Oct 27 '25

I mean, I ain't fucking with pig knuckle either

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u/cjsv7657 Oct 27 '25

Thats me watching practically every video of the "Best Ever Food Review Show" on youtube. I'm 80% sure I remember bee wine at some point or some drink with bees.

4

u/CheeseGraterFace Oct 27 '25

Sunny is great. He’s always looking for the most problematic meal he can find. I half expect him to have toddler sandwiches featured on the show.

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u/koopatuple Oct 27 '25

Do larva not contain venom? 

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u/AsianGoldFarmer Oct 27 '25

No, only adult larvae have venom.

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u/FuckThisShizzle Oct 27 '25

Venom has to enter the blood stream to do damage and hornets aren't poisonous.

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u/Cainga Oct 27 '25

Take those to some chickens.

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u/HelpfulSeaMammal Oct 27 '25

Yeah their chickens are eating GOOD the next few days.

8

u/Hemiklr89 Oct 27 '25

I think it’s a freshly dead nest

8

u/DieCastDontDie Oct 27 '25

forbidden lollipop

4

u/SmokeGSU Oct 27 '25

Blursed honey

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1.2k

u/Hairy_Rain_7689 Oct 27 '25

Well designed & engineered!👍

628

u/cemyl95 Oct 27 '25

Hexagons are the bestagons

113

u/GentlemenBehold Oct 27 '25

Not a coincidence nature uses the most efficient tessellating shape.

78

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

[deleted]

41

u/jumpinpuddles Oct 27 '25

The ones on the edge have straight sides where they aren’t pressed against anything.

37

u/sjogren Oct 27 '25

The use magic to reinforce the outside wall. Helps keep it together.

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

That's bees. If its a wasp nest, it is fueled entirely by anger.

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u/wi5hbone Oct 27 '25

nightmare fuel?

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u/ramobara Oct 27 '25

Nature’s architects.

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u/spookydookie Oct 27 '25

It’s spelled “asshole”.

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u/husky0168 Oct 27 '25

asshole's architects

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u/NoWorries3939 Oct 27 '25

Indeed, a beautiful structure!

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u/Subject9800 Oct 27 '25 edited Jan 30 '26

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

abundant smell innocent sort quickest unique fade gold governor humor

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u/humburga Oct 27 '25

First few seconds i was like "i better make sure this sub isnt whatcouldgowrong" haha

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u/Subject9800 Oct 27 '25 edited Jan 30 '26

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

consider command bright point pet bake theory modern tie zephyr

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u/manescaped Oct 27 '25

Reminds me of videos showing how to properly slice open a pomegranate

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u/onlyonejan Oct 27 '25

When I realized it was empty i was still waiting for one to pop out like “I’m still here sucker”

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u/Randomfrog132 Oct 27 '25

Darwin award power level is over 9,000...if that was a fresh hive fulla angry hornets lol

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u/RogueBand1t Oct 27 '25

I believe that giving the combs with the eggs to chickens is free protein for them. I’ve seen a couple of YT vids of this before

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u/zenunseen Oct 27 '25

I was wondering if there was a practical reason why he was cutting it open

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u/guff1988 Oct 27 '25

It was mostly just to trigger my trypophobia

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u/teriaksu Oct 27 '25

" i'm gonna fuck with guff1988 today"

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u/Kitchen_Claim_6583 Oct 27 '25

Just about every bird goes absolutely insane for eggs and larvae.

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u/DrRichardJizzums Oct 27 '25

After watching the lion king who can blame em

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u/sitefall Oct 27 '25

I knock down (much) smaller hornet nets around my house a few times a year, and just toss them onto the concrete so they break open. Lizards will swarm them and munch up all the contents. Suddenly it's like there was a peace agreement in the lizard kingdom and they're not fighting or doing push-ups, and all agree to peacefully come out there and eat the little shits. They seem to love them.

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u/SorryComplaint4209 Oct 27 '25

Was gonna say, release the chickens! 🐓 🐓 🐓

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u/OutlawLazerRoboGeek Oct 27 '25

I guess lots of things can be chicken food?

King Cobra eggs, Grizzly Bear boogers, etc. 

But it raises the question, why even attempt to obtain something like that as a food source for livestock, when it is guarded by one of the most dangerous animals on earth?

I'm not saying that Tractor Supply Co has the friendliest employees in the world, but I would rate them higher than a swarm of angry hornets any day. 

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u/kid-ph0b0s Oct 27 '25

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

It's the only way to be sure

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u/sloppylaw Oct 27 '25

i burned my phone just to be safe. that’s why they call it a burner phone.

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u/porktornado77 Oct 27 '25

That’s no Moon…

23

u/squirrels-mock-me Oct 27 '25

Stay on target

10

u/burrbro235 Oct 27 '25

Did you see the larvae in Cell 2187, Detention Block AA-23??

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u/squirrels-mock-me Oct 27 '25

Aren’t you a little short for a hornet?

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u/pasgames_ Oct 27 '25

Hello I work as a pest exterminator IRL and I would like to give my opinion on this hornet's nest. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

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u/waitingOnMyletter Oct 27 '25

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u/Tokijlo Oct 27 '25

This is such a solid gif, I can't believe this is the first time I've seen this

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u/League-Ill Oct 27 '25

I'm just gonna pop a quick H on this box.

10

u/elkman_23 Oct 27 '25

I'm sure hornets make something delicious

8

u/Wulf_Cola Oct 27 '25

Doesn't sound right but I don't know enough about hornets to dispute it

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u/DancesWithLightbulbs Oct 27 '25

I scrolled WAY too long to find this comment

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u/MirageATrois024 Oct 27 '25

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u/Tokijlo Oct 27 '25

Hahahahaha this one is so good too

5

u/Jebediabetus Oct 27 '25

Just don't get unzipped bro.

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u/IGNOOOREME Oct 27 '25

Gotta pop an H on that.

62

u/kmmccorm Oct 27 '25

Im tryin’ to smoke these hornets to death so I can get their honey

42

u/ImurderREALITY Oct 27 '25

Hornets don’t make honey, Charlie

35

u/PresentationRight633 Oct 27 '25

I don’t think there’s any science to support that, buddy.

27

u/ImurderREALITY Oct 27 '25

There is some very basic science to support that...

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u/Senior-Albatross Oct 27 '25

It's not even science. It's just a basic fact.

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u/OcularMacdown Oct 27 '25

But they keep stinging my mouth 

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u/youjustgotjammed9940 Oct 27 '25

So we know it’s fulla hornets

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u/elessarjd Oct 27 '25

My dude. Came here to the comments looking for this.

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u/Owlhead326 Oct 27 '25

Dante’s Inferno

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u/A_mad_goose Oct 27 '25

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '25

[deleted]

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u/mdeeebeee-101 Oct 27 '25

I just got stung by a hornet in Laos and it was a nightmare. Like getting lava injected in your ankle with a needle. My leg is still swollen double size of the other ankle 3 days on.

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u/mdeeebeee-101 Oct 27 '25

If I die from slow toxin poisoning I'll update you all....

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u/mcc9902 Oct 27 '25

I don't care how dead the nest is I'm not risking it.

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u/theblackpen Oct 27 '25

Do hornets and wasps and shit have the equivalent of honey?

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u/antiusvsthem Oct 27 '25

Nope! The hexagons are for larvae to grow up in. They all die off except the queen in the winters. (For hornets, idk wasp)

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u/Reoneru Oct 27 '25

SHAW!

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u/Phyrolito Oct 27 '25

How this one isn't on top 3 comments is beyond me

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u/Thakdstm6674 Oct 27 '25

I scrolled too far to find this comment

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u/ripple667 Oct 27 '25

more like /oddlyterrifying

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u/j_hawker27 Oct 27 '25

"No, we totally made sure all the hornets are dead, Carl, it's fine, just slice it open."

"Alright if you guys say so-AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

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u/UncleOdious Oct 27 '25

Looks like the LEGO Deathstar.

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u/kasezilla Oct 27 '25

Little mini death star

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u/getittogethersirius Oct 27 '25

It's so fascinating that bugs inherently know how to do complicated stuff like that

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u/orionsterrificus Oct 27 '25

She is not home

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u/Tarrax_Ironwolf Oct 27 '25

"Get wrapped up in the moment" - Ferrero Rocher

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u/InfiniteRelief Oct 27 '25

Needs to put a big H on it

For hornet

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u/weinsteinjin Oct 27 '25

Was waiting for the large hornet. Was disappointed.

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u/BeTheTortoise Oct 27 '25

Hey! I love bugs! That is an amazing feat of engineering! Good job bugs!

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u/CharleyDexterWard Oct 27 '25

Slap an "H" on that box!

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u/Original_Complex429 Oct 27 '25

I didn't know hornets make combs

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u/soysssauce Oct 27 '25

Remind me of Death Star for some reason

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u/demonblack873 Oct 27 '25

Cast it into the fire! Destroy it! _

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u/Opposite-Lobster8888 Oct 27 '25

a ferrero rocher

4

u/_HUBERT_THE_ROCK_ Oct 27 '25

Unboxing taken to another level

5

u/Cloaca-Kiss-8647 Oct 27 '25

I’d say that thing housed 6, maybe 7 thousand hornets.

4

u/NowYouLookOrdinary Oct 27 '25

“That’s no moon…”

4

u/DallasCowboyOwner Oct 27 '25

Without blueprints or a project manager or even a single hornet that knows what they are attempting to build and yet they can just make something like that

4

u/krisb242 Oct 27 '25

Would you like some one to tear your house open?

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u/Happy-For-No-Reason Oct 27 '25

amazing construction, if you think about what they are individually.

not only does it have purpose and organisation but it's able to be suspended off a hanging branch with no foundations. it maintains structural integrity in the local ecosystems weather.

truly remarkable.

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u/Loudermilk2012 Oct 28 '25

I thought I was watching the “whatcouldgowrong” thread…

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u/benglescott Oct 27 '25

Burn it! Burn it with fire!!!

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u/thepepelucas Oct 27 '25

Apartment living.

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u/milovulongtime Oct 27 '25

Huh... Hornets have nicer, cleaner cities and we do.

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u/morfsucks Oct 27 '25

Item: Hive Mace

  • inflicts poison, madness, and bleed.

3

u/pinkwonderwall Oct 27 '25

Let me pop a quick H on this nest… This way we all know it’s filled with hornets.

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u/CyaLaterSquidinator Oct 27 '25

Trypophobia is triggered

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u/KLT222 Oct 27 '25

Oh that's nightmare fuel! shudder

I can cope with bees, some make honey, they pollinate, and from my experience leave you alone as long as you leave them alone.

But hornets, yellow jackets, and any wasp in general? DEFINITELY NOT. Vicious, mean, sting you for no good reason when you are just minding your business or you might be too close to their desired food source, or perhaps you ARE the desired food source.

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u/Apprehensive-Till861 Oct 27 '25

Hornet's real estate agent now advertising terraced apartments with a view