Accepted Answer

Hello cjb,

It's hard to predict what exactly the hornets will do, but I can tell you from my own similar experience that they do try to rebuild their nests.

I had a huge hornet's nest last year that was attached to the underneath side of one of my awnings. My son went out like you did and poked around at the nest with a long stick. The nest never did completely detach from the awning, but nearly the whole one side of it was gone. When we did this it was broad daylight and the temperature was in the 80's, so the hornets were active.

They immediately swarmed to try and start rebuilding the nest (there must have been 40 or 50 all at one time). Not only that, while they were attempting to rebuild the nest my son then went out there with a pressure hose and started spraying the nest, knocking down a little bit more each time. The minute he would stop spraying, they were back again trying to rebuild. It was the most horrifying experience I have ever had with bugs or insects of any kind.

To this day I still have small patches of the nest attached to that awning that are just impossible to remove. They must have their own form of super glue when they build these nests.

I understand your concern with not wanting to hurt the wren, but you really need to do whatever it takes to get rid of these hornets, as they will not go away easily. If I were you I would saturate that nest with spray and then let it sit for a couple of days before you try to get near it again. Once they are gone then you should be able to remove the nest completely.

If this was helpful please press the Accept button. Positive feedback is also appreciated.

Thank you cjb, and good luck with this. I know what a pain it is.

Expert:	Merlo
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
Accepts:	82
Answered:	5/19/2009

Consultant

Univ of Missouri Business major with minor in Psychology