Just recently, our oldest daughter noticed this hanging in our neighbors maple tree. It is a huge hornet nest. I mean HUGE!!! It is bigger than a soccer ball, perhaps even slightly larger than a basketball. We were hoping that it didn’t have any hornets in it, but we found out that it did once we threw a rock at it. They came swarming out! (I don’t recommend doing that!! LOL) It is probably about 25-30 feet up in the tree. We have tried thinking of ways to get it down and to save the nest. My daughter wants to cut it open and look at the inside of it. I think it will be a great science lesson. Again, we have to get it down in one piece. Any suggestions?
The outside is so neat looking. You can tell where they have added on to it over and over. It even has twigs going right through the nest. You can also see several openings where the hornets can go in and out of the nest. It also has leaves sticking in it too. I think what fascinates me the most is the color. It looks like there are 3 different colors on the nest. It is in a layered pattern.
Have you ever seen a nest this big? I have seen hornet nests before, but nothing this size. I have heard of them being much larger out in the forest though. For now, we are just leaving it alone. We are hoping that once the cold weather comes, it will be easier getting rid of the hornets so we can take it down.
Have you ever found anything like this and let the kids dissect it?
