# I'll Never be scared of a British Wasp Again......



## prof20 (Jan 11, 2007)

..............After seeing these blighters!

(Courtesy of Buzzfeed - no pun intended).

China’s Killer Hornets Are Enormous And Horrifying

You do not want to get stung by one of these.

China has a major wasp problem right now. Over the past three months, 21 people have died as a result of wasp stings in the province of Shaanxi alone.

The killer variety responsible is thought to be Vespa mandarinia, or, “Asian giant hornets.” They are typically 2.2 inches long, and attack in swarms. Don’t think you can run away, either. These things will chase you, and can fly at speeds of nearly 25mph.

Just in case you are yet to grasp the sheer horror, here is a photo.

Roger


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

I was stung on the ear lobe by an African Hornet while in Angola. 8O 

It was the equivalent of someone hitting you on the ear with an 8 pound hammer. :lol:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

hornets are horrible

Me I hate wasps 

Can't eat outside as they really worry me

although when we had a wasp nest in the garden

They ignored us entirely

Wouldn't kill them though, only kill flies if they wont go out of the van and I give them ample chance :lol: :lol: 

Aldra


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## prof20 (Jan 11, 2007)

aldra said:


> hornets are horrible
> 
> Me I hate wasps
> 
> ...


These kill you Aldra - survival of the fittest! Run!

Roger


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

my running days are over :lol: 

I'll just avoid China

mind you we had some impressive Hornets in Israel

aldra


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

We have been finding out a lot about wasps and hornets since we started keeping bees in our back garden.....

wasps are OK in early summer and ideal for gardens as they eat caterpillars and other small insects - they are carnivorous and use the protein rich insects as their main food source so that they can breed rapidly,

in early autumn they change their food source to a carbohydrate based one - this gives them energy for their activities to allow them to build up food reserves for the winter when few will survive.

Hornets are generally not aggressive - note the word generally.....

The European Hornet that is...... see the picture below

The Asian Hornet was released in Southern France and is bad news for bee colonies and is now becoming a major pest..... smaller than the European and a predator on bee hives

The Oriental hornet is deadly and fortunately has not been found outside of it's native Far East area...... long may it stay there.... not one to meet unless you are suitably armoured.....

Dave


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## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

I'm going to Oz for November via Hong Kong with a 3 day stopover there

Please tell me these bugs are not in HK...  

Cheers

Dave


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Roger, they sound nasty since they attack.

Dave, I agree with you about the European variety not being aggressive - In Greece I have never experienced one even landing on a person; they seem to circle away. However I would not like to be stung by one and the only time I worry about them is when driving a scooter and could run into one which might sting out of self defence, so I never ride shirtless because the torso is where one might be held on the skin by the slipstream, whereas it would hopefully get blown off arms, legs etc. before it could sting.

Geoff


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

A friends tree blew down in a gale last year. I went with another friend to cut up and remove the debris as it fell across his drive.

Half way through cutting up the trunk my fried disturbed a hornets nest. He tried to kill them and one stung me on the back of my head.
Within minutes I was dizzy and had one hell of a head ache. 
Foolishly I drove home and applied various sting remedies. The pain lasted days and the bump was still there a week after.

This was from a regular 1" hornet. The next nest I found I burnt out with a cloth soaked in diesel. Not taking any risks again.

Ray.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> Roger, they sound nasty since they attack.
> 
> Dave, I agree with you about the European variety not being aggressive - In Greece I have never experienced one even landing on a person; they seem to circle away. However I would not like to be stung by one and the only time I worry about them is when driving a scooter and could run into one which might sting out of self defence, so I never ride shirtless because the torso is where one might be held on the skin by the slipstream, whereas it would hopefully get blown off arms, legs etc. before it could sting.
> 
> Geoff


I get stung on the bike every year. 3 this summer, two on the neck and one on the left eyelid. The joys of riding a scooter with an open face helmet.  I just brush em off now cos Im so hard! Dont even cry anymore! 8O

Once one hit me at 40mph in Provence and I was ready for it and batted it away, only for it to land stunned on Mrs D's leg right behind me where its final act was to sting her instead. :lol:

The worst one ever for me was flying through an orchard off road on a trail bike in Greece where a blighter wedged in me shades and just kept stinging me on the nose. Worse however for MRs D was one in Turkey, again on a trail bike where a massive thing (Hornet?) landed on her hand and stung her. She said it was like been stabbed by a red hot poker. She nearly fell off and it hurt for days. Wuss.


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## NeilandDebs (Aug 28, 2008)

*Asian hornets*

I was reading on the net the other day about these chinese hornets.

The article stated that they have been imported into France and are now in, I think, 11 areas.

Neil


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

*Re: Asian hornets*



NeilandDebs said:


> I was reading on the net the other day about these chinese hornets.
> 
> The article stated that they have been imported into France and are now in, I think, 11 areas.
> 
> Neil


   

Well with my legacy of disasters on this trip Im bound to meet one tomorrow! 8O

Only two days to go before I am safe and sound back in blighty then!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

You will have to run the gauntlet at Calais Barry. Might not let you back in.

Ray.


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## andyandsue (Sep 7, 2008)

*on the same subject ...kinda*

The Mem had to get the Boy in to sort this 4" roach out recently...it was spitting at her like an ill-mannered punk till it tasted the Baygon


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

*Re: Asian hornets*



NeilandDebs said:


> The article stated that they have been imported into France and are now in, I think, 11 areas.
> 
> Neil


AFAIK (we keep bees and regularly have updates from the French Veterinary Ministry via our grouping), the one's that have been encountered are the Asiatic hornets; _Vespa velutina nigrithorax _

Asiatic Hornet

which entered France via Bordeaux in a container load of pottery.

The really unpleasant one (which has so far killed in excess of 45 people since July with very many more in intensive care with the expectation that they are unlikely to survive) is the Oriental Hornet; _Vespa mandarinia_ which is much larger and apparently VERY aggressive.......

Oriental Hornet

it is VERY much larger (up to 5cm in length with a matched wingspan), it has been found (with a related Japanese sub-species) in Russia, Korea, China, Taiwan, parts of Indochina, Nepal, Sri Lanka and but is most common in rural areas of Japan.

So Barry is unlikely to encounter either in Calais....... thankfully since with his track record it would discover a split in his insect shields........

The European Hornet, _Vespa crabro_ has a very bad press agent as they rarely attack unless in defence of their nest. But sadly, the response of many, if not most, people is similar to that suggested by the Daleks; "*Exterminate, Exterminate, Exterminate!"*, but they rarely cause problems as the BBC says;

European Hornet

We have encountered many European ones, and know that Asiatic ones exist in this commune, but have not yet encountered any.

Dave


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## prof20 (Jan 11, 2007)

*A Live One!*

Even more scary!

Asian Hornet

Roger


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

*Re: Asian hornets*



Penquin said:


> NeilandDebs said:
> 
> 
> > The article stated that they have been imported into France and are now in, I think, 11 areas.
> ...


Cooo! Scary little things. WE made it back to the Dales without being attacked by killer Hornets or arrested by Interpol but I have made a mental note not to go flying around Japan on the scooter with open helmets and T Shirts.

I literally get stung at least twice a year on the bike. Let me know if those nasty Oriental ones get as far as Europe!


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## andyandsue (Sep 7, 2008)

*more dangerous creatures the Mem has found*

met these buggers a few years ago on the back streets of Harar in Eastern Ethiopia.......The Mem was very concerned


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