It is easier to see abandoned bald-faced hornet nests through the trees on my winter walks. Hornets prefer to fashion their nests on branches high above the ground. The construction of their nests is amazing! The hornets chew up wood and mix it with saliva to form a pulp or paste which they flatten with their mandibles to form the sheets and cells inside their nests. The hornets collect wood from different places which is why the nest is a variety of colors. Go here for detailed information about hornets.

Several families gifted me with hornet nests while I was in the classroom! The first thing I researched was if hornets would emerge when the nest was brought inside a warm classroom. The answer is no. Hornets die off during the first hard frost. The fertilized queen will winter in a protected area and begin a new nest in the spring. The colony will not return to their old nest. Information can be found about preserving a hornet’s nest here.

The hornets enter from a single hole on the bottom of the nest.

Have you wondered what it looks like inside a hornet’s nest? I did too, so I cut one open and looked inside. Do you see the six-sided cells? Eggs were previously laid in each cell by the queen, and the larvae lived in the cells as they went through the stages of metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, and adult.) The nest is built from the inside out and the layers of the nest are evident below.

The hornet’s nest resembles those of other paper wasps. I discovered this one attached to an upstairs window.

Go here to view full screen.

This series was always a favorite in my second-grade classroom. All hornets are wasps, but not all wasps are hornets.

Add the following book to your collection. Find more information about it here.

Related Posts

Cardboard and Wasp Nests

Cicada Killing Wasp