When Kathy Gleason got a call from her neighbor to check out the
gigantic beehive in her back yard last week she was not only surprised
by the beauty and intricate construction, but full of curiosities.

“I wonder if they are still in there,” she said.

According to National Geographic, hornet nests are abandoned in
winter (usually after the first frost) and only new, young queens (and
their eggs) survive the season by finding protected areas under tree
bark or even inside human dwellings. In the spring, such a queen will
begin a new nest, and soon her young will become workers and take over
the chores of the new hive — leaving the queen to tend to reproduction.
She will produce more workers to expand the hive and then, before she
dies, yield a breeding generation of new queens and males (drones) to
restart the cycle of life.

A nest takes shape early in the summer and grows as the number of bees
increases. The nest is made by the bees chewing wood into a papery
construction pulp and forming layer upon layer. Hornets are not
aggressive by nature, but will defend their nests when attacked or
stumbled upon. The best way to get rid of a nest is to wait until dark,
then spray insecticide into the opening.

“I can’t remember how it goes, but I have heard that where they build
their nests can predict the coming winter,” Gleason said. According to
the Encyclopedia of Superstition, Folklore and Occult Sciences of the
World, if a bee hive is built high in the trees, a mild winter will
follow, and, if built low to the ground, a harsh winter will follow.  Considering the nest was a mere foot or 2 above the ground, brace yourself for a cold, harsh winter.

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