Well, after much contemplation, I just knocked it down, and boy, is she pissed! Hopefully all will be calm in the area tomorrow morning. I'm going to try and avoid the area for as long as possible. The nest is on the ground. I'm hoping she decides to rebuild higher up, because if she builds back in the same spot, I'll have to kill her, which I really don't want to do :( Every webpage I looked at said to spray the nest. I just can't bring myself to do that.

Thank you all for your responses... I read about fipronil, and I'll not be using honey dew. It is toxic to fresh water fish... and we have small creeks on both sides of our property. Just to make it clear... I have confirmed with our county extension office that they are in fact, European Hornets... Getting stung is not the issue for me. Issue # 1: They are girdling my Seven Sons of Yang! (see attached pic) This damage is specifically from these hornets! I have wrapped the main trunk of the tree with burlap, and now they are stripping the back from the branches, and I've got substantial die-back. Issue # 2: They are killing all of the butterflies in my yard! (Especially the swallowtails.) They literally hover over the buddleias and other plants. When the butterflies land... Bang! They are right on top of them, taking them down to the ground, where they proceed to sting them over and over until the butterfly dies and/or breaks into piece. The hornets do NOT fly off with part of the butterfly, as if to use it as a host for it's eggs. It's simply kills it and leaves it there on the ground. Our property is wooded - I can't figure out how to post 2 pics, so I'll post a 2nd pic just after this one... The wild life is wonderful! Any other suggestions on how to deter these hornets will be greatly appreciated. (Note: Last year I tried laying out honeydew, catelope and other melons... as well as sugar water in cups, hoping they would not bother my tree... They had a party, eating and drinking from the all-you-could-eat buffet, and then proceeded to stripping the bark off of my tree with more vigor than ever!) THIS IS WAR!!!!!

I know this message is older, but wow........what a fantastic nest! I found one this summer and it looked like yours. But it always had a larger hole in it. I'm assuming it was their main entrance. But after they were gone this fall, I went up to it and saw some fur in there. I'm thinking some mice were in there. haha Its looking quite ragged now, so I don't think they still live in there......but it was out in the open. I read up on the bare-faced hornet and it sounds like they all die off in late Fall, except for the queen, who hibernates under leaves or a fallen tree trunk, etc. I think at that time she already has fertilized eggs in her. So I don't think you'll have any left-over hornets......but you never know. I had a relative who brought one in the house in late Fall and a few hornets flew out of it. But from what I understand, they don't reuse their old nest, so if you don't mind, you could just leave it up as a birdhouse! Those hornets' nests are a real work of art.

Go to the bottom of this page, click on the "Contact Us" tab, and you will get a short form to fill out. Report it as "forum abuse". I hope you will report this - it has been happening in some of the other Nature forums too. In fact, the Sustaining Our Environment forum is totally trashed. They are getting tired of hearing from me, so I hope others will complain also. About the dead hornet hives, it is called Colony Collapse Disorder, and it is already happening big time to the honeybees. One of the major causes is the use of systemic insecticides (banned in Europe by the way) which get into the capillary system of the plant then exuded into the nectar and pollen. It kills all pollinators, not just bees. Here are two links discussing it. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/25/why-are-the-bees-disappearing.aspx?e_cid=20110925_SNL_Art_1 Also see below. Here is a link that might be useful: Why the bees are dying