starts the colony and lays eggs; Workers — infertile females which do all work except laying eggs; Drones — males, which have no stingers, and are born from unfertilized eggs; New queens — fertile females, each of which, once fertilized, may start its own nest in the spring.
Bald-face hornets will sting repeatedly if disturbed. Like other stinging wasps, they can sting repeatedly because the stinger does not become stuck in the skin. Some suggest putting baking soda or meat tenderizer on the area of the sting, but others say such treatments do not work.
European Hornet-Vespa crabro. This species is commonly known simply as the "hornet", is the largest European true social wasp. The queen measures 21–1.4 inches long; males and workers are smaller. The antennae have 13 segments, while in females there are only 12
This species is not particularly aggressive except when defending the nest, and care must be taken when in its proximity, as the stings are quite painful. As with most stinging insects, European hornets will sting in self-defense when grabbed or stepped on.
Eyes are deeply indented, shaped like C. Wings are reddish-orange, the petiolate abdomen is brown striped with yellow. The European hornet is larger than common wasp, but smaller than some Asian hornet species. It has hair on the thorax and abdomen, although the European hornet is not so hairy as most bees.
European hornets are often mischaracterized as very aggressive and dangerous, and are greatly feared by some people. Some people believe that "three stings from the European hornet can kill an adult human, and that seven can kill a horse". These are common myths - a sting from a European hornet isn't any more dangerous than any other wasp sting, and European hornets are less aggressive than other wasps. In contrast, multiple Asian giant hornets stings are, in fact, more dangerous.
While impressive due to their size and loud sound, European hornets are in fact much less aggressive than some of their smaller relatives, such as the German wasp and the c