by Blake Newton, UK Extension Entomologist
Do you love hornets' nests, but hate the hornets? Or: do you love paper lanterns, but wish they were less-illuminated? A product has been developed just for you!
I just saw it on the Home & Garden Network this morning: it's a fake hornet nest that you can hang from a tree in your yard. It is supposed to repel hornets. The guy on the segment said that hornets are very territorial and won't build a nest within so-many meters of an existing nest. I don't know if this is true or not, but in an advertisement that I found for the product I read that "research has demonstrated that wasps are territorial and avoid other nests." Well, it certainly looks a lot like a hornet nest. It also must be made of the same kind of stuff (paper), because the guy on H&G said that you can't leave the fake nest in the rain or else it will disintegrate! On the other hand, real hornets' nests don't disintegrate in the rain (how do hornets make their paper water-proof?).
I'm not sure if there is just one brand of Fake Hornet Nest, or several, but here is an online ad that I found for one (it's sold out!).
Well, does anyone have any experience with these things? Do they work? Has anyone seen any research?