Invader

For a few days every year we come into the sitting room in the morning to find a hornet buzzing at the window. What's the problem, you ask? Just keep the window shut. Well, we do keep the window shut. The problem is that said hornet is on the inside. We found the first of the year a couple of weeks ago making quite a racket inside the woodburner. Since then we've ejected three or four through the window. It's difficult to judge the size from the photo, but I can tell you that it was 1.5 to 2 inches long. Ordinary wasps are much smaller and more aggressive. These hornets seem much more docile, and their buzz is lower pitched and louder than a wasp's. I still didn't fancy holding a ruler (if I could have found one) alongside while taking the photo, though!

But where do they come from? Yes, I know, eggs, but where are the eggs being laid? We've seen them flying up from under the woodburner straight to the window, so I think they must be hatching in the air duct under the woodburner. I suppose we could close this now we're not likely (I hope) to be using the stove for a few months.

Interesting fact: Vespa motor scooters are so-called because they sound/sounded like wasps or hornets. Vespa is Italian (and Latin) for "wasp". Vespa is the genus name of hornets.