Find out more about how hornets and wasps differ and whether hornets can be driven out or even controlled in Germany.
Hornets are generally considered to be dangerous for us humans. The saying “7 stings kill a horse, 3 stings a person” leads one to believe that hornets are far more dangerous than Wasps or bees: but is that also true? We'll go into more detail about the hornet in this article.
Even if the majority of Germans think that hornets are particularly aggressive and dangerous, this is a rumor. In contrast to wasps, hornets are much calmer and more peaceful. Nevertheless, hornets should not be disturbed when searching for food or in the vicinity of the nest. Like many other animals, the hornet vigorously defends its own nest. In the following sections you will learn how to distinguish hornets from wasps and whether hornets are distributed or distributed in Germany. may even be fought.
Hornet or wasp?
When identifying hornets, they can be confused with the German or the common wasp. Due to the size of the hornets, they are most likely to be confused with a wasp queen and not with the smaller worker wasps. Because the much larger hornets are up to 2.8 cm long and significantly larger than a normal wasp with a maximum of 1.6 cm. Only the hornet queen is significantly larger than the worker hornet with a length of up to 4 cm.
Incidentally, there is only one native hornet species in Germany (Vespa crabro). In addition to size, the most important distinguishing feature, there are also other identifying features on the head of wasps and hornets. For the layperson, however, these differences are not immediately apparent and you would also have to get dangerously close to a wasp or hornet to see the differences clearly. For this reason, you should limit yourself to the size of the animals when determining. You will most often come across hornets in deciduous forests, orchards, alluvial forests and parklands.
Hornets under nature protection: drive away instead of killing / fighting?
Hornets are a valuable and at the same time unique part of our ecosystem. However, due to the destruction of their natural habitats and direct control by humans, our native hornets are an endangered species. That is why the hornet has been on the “Red List of Endangered Animals and Plants in Germany” since 1984. In addition, the hornets in Germany are protected by the Federal Nature Conservation Act. Hornets may therefore neither be caught nor killed, and damaging or relocating a hornet's nest is also prohibited. For this reason, control is not even an option.
Relocation can only make sense if the nest is in close proximity to kindergartens, schools or similar buildings. However, relocation is always associated with great stress for the hornets and does not always have to be positive. If there is a hornet's nest on your property, you should first ask yourself whether the nest is really disturbing in its place. Because the hornet's nest is often only discovered in summer or late summer, when the number of those living in the nest is highest. But then it is only a matter of weeks before the hornet colony dies on its own. In addition, a young hornet queen will never colonize an old nest again, so you don't have to worry about this point.
If the nest has to be removed, this order should only be carried out by qualified personnel. It is best to contact local nature conservation associations or the responsible nature conservation authority. In any case, before removing the nest, an exemption from the nature conservation authority must be available. In many cases, however, it is quite possible to share the garden with the hornets. In addition, they can serve as voracious pests in your garden and are therefore of great use.
Although hornets wrongly carry their bad reputation, many people are afraid of the insect's stings. Indeed how dangerous are hornet stings actually? You will find the answer in our special article.
