Hornets

Hornets are wasps of the genus Vespa, closely related to (and resembling) yellow jackets. These social insects construct hives by chewing wood into a papery construction pulp. They mature from egg to adult inside the community hive. In colder climes, hornet nests are abandoned in winter and only new, young queens (and their eggs) survive the season by finding protected areas under tree bark or even inside human dwellings.

Hornets are entirely exterior: trees, shrubs, under decks, and high in the eaves. They construct a “football” or upside down teardrop-shaped nest from gray paper. Hornets, as do wasps and yellow jackets, actually make this paper themselves by chewing on tiny slivers of wood. The young are hatched and food is stored in the nest’s center or “core” of hexagonal (or six-sided) cells.