Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. I get paper wasps and baldfaced hornets mixed up. Paper wasps build small nests with open, visible cells that hang from the corner of the porch. Baldfaced hornets build those magnificent foot-ball shaped nests that hang from branches. Since they aren’t reused – only a mated female overwinters – people collect them and use them as fascinating natural decorations in dens or casual family rooms. If you think you can notice a smell, leave the nest in a shed for a few months until any dead insects inside have decomposed. You don’t need to varnish the nest to preserve its beauty – just hang it from a beam or put it on top of a bookcase. Then if you have quiet, non-chatty cousins from one of those non-southern states who come to visit, you can probably get a conversation going by bringing out your bald-faced hornet nest!
Bald Face Hornets
