# Raising bald-faced hornets



## ZephAmp (Mar 9, 2010)

I found a queen today. I'm interested in keeping them, even if it's just a small colony. Anyone have experience with these?


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## MD92 (Mar 9, 2010)

1.  I am insanely jealous as I was just looking into these less than a few hours ago and was determined to find a queen.
2.  Where are you located?
3.  Do a google search for bald faced hornet and you'd be surprised what you'd find...


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## koolkid98 (Mar 9, 2010)

1-im jeaulous too!I wanna keep them again.
2-Get a queen nest or any nest.
3-feed her insects and give her two dishes honey water in one and plain water in the other one
4-Get a large kritter keeper or a big 10 gal
5-Gets some wood so she can make a nest.
6-Cut squares and make a box like thing with one open side for viewing.
7-Don't feel bad if you fail it happened to me 19 times.
8-If i was you however i suggest getting a new queen and her nest way easier then you don't have to wait so long.
9-When workers arive just put the enclosure outside and open it up a little this is called free ranging as for some reason once you get 4-5 workers they don't seem to rear brood in captivity
10-Hope this helps i sure hope vulgaris can answer them better dunno if he has experince with D maculata though i do.
FYI-They aren't hornets they are yellow jackets.


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## ZephAmp (Mar 10, 2010)

She's munching on a strawberry right now in small plastic container; 
I need a little bit more specific enclosure directions. lol
I'm in Michigan. I came across at least 3 other queens but I let them be.


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## dtknow (Mar 11, 2010)

No experience with wasps...but I have to ask is a wasp found this early in the year necessarily a queen? A paper wasp showed up in my bedroom but it went to a centipede. I scratched my head after that and wondered if perhaps it was a queen? But in Long Beach colonies probably go for over a year.

I would read the thread vulgaris posted and make plans for a much bigger enclosure(for a potentially football sized nest).


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## ZephAmp (Mar 11, 2010)

I dug her out of a log. She's a queen. lol

Reactions: Like 1


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## Vulgaris (Mar 11, 2010)

I too am jealous! I have been ripping open logs all winter and could not find any. They usually always hibernate in rotten wood. And you found THREE? Man, I struggle to find one

I am also planning on raising this species this spring if I can get hold of a queen. I already have my cage built. It is an extra large hermit crab cage made of wire. Should be perfect_ I have an embryo nest to use and there is plenty of flight room since this is a very large species

Keeping a queen in captivity is one thing; but keeping a colony is another thing. They demand unthinkable quantities of prey items and would need an emormous enclosure, probably something like a mesh iguana cage. If I can get a colony started from a queen, I am going to set them free. This would be a major accomplishment to get a queen to nest in captivity. As far as I know, it has not been done

I suggest taking her out of the small container asap. An aquarium or something large would be good. Add sticks and pieces of wood for her to hide under. There should be two SHALLOW dishes; one for honey and one for water. Do you have an embryo nest to use? if not, then little bits of envelope from a nest should help. Glue them in the nesting area and that should entice her. This species uses weathered gray wood such as from old fence posts. It might be hard to find, but see if you can cut some up and put it in her cage. I cut mine with a saw. if you look close, you can see the fibers on the wood which is what you are looking for

Good luck, keep us updated


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## koolkid98 (Mar 12, 2010)

You can say that again vulgaris even a small colony of four ate at least 20-40 flies a day!


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## GiantVinegaroon (Mar 14, 2010)

Vulgaris said:


> I too am jealous! I have been ripping open logs all winter and could not find any. They usually always hibernate in rotten wood. And you found THREE? Man, I struggle to find one
> 
> I am also planning on raising this species this spring if I can get hold of a queen. I already have my cage built. It is an extra large hermit crab cage made of wire. Should be perfect_ I have an embryo nest to use and there is plenty of flight room since this is a very large species
> 
> ...


You're in PA and having trouble finding bald-faced hornets???

I was bug collecting in NJ last winter and found at least 5 queens just by flipping rotting logs.


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## Vulgaris (Mar 14, 2010)

Hey man, don't brag 

I must have flipped over and kicked open dozens of logs throughout the winter. Not a single queen


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## GiantVinegaroon (Mar 14, 2010)

Vulgaris said:


> Hey man, don't brag
> 
> I must have flipped over and kicked open dozens of logs throughout the winter. Not a single queen


Oh well I was finding them around this time last year...not in the middle of winter.


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## koolkid98 (Mar 14, 2010)

I don't bother i'm gonna wait till spring.

On a side note i ate SH** and now i have a big bruise it's disturbing.


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## ZergFront (Mar 15, 2010)

Are they significantly bigger than the workers like honey bee queens? Maybe an entrance can be carved/melted only large enough for workers to go out and forage food?


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## koolkid98 (Mar 15, 2010)

Yeah for the first part but by the time workers are her size she's nest bound.


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## Vulgaris (Mar 15, 2010)

ZergFront said:


> Are they significantly bigger than the workers like honey bee queens? Maybe an entrance can be carved/melted only large enough for workers to go out and forage food?


Do you mean as a way to get queens? That method would not work because the entrance is part of the nest, and is constantly being changed. 

Plus then you would have the issue of mating the young queens that you catch

ScottySalticid: does not matter what exact point in the winter you look. the queens remain motionless in their spots until late April or May (for our area). Whether you look in December or March, it does not make a difference accept for the logs would be easier to kick open because they would be less frozen


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