I saw a large hornet down the end of my garden earlier, it didn't seem at all bothered by me, probably because I didn't get to close. I'm worried that there could be a nest nearby, maybe even in my garden, but until I see it there is nothing I can do.

I've heard lots of things about hornets, and I'm not sure what to think about them, so if anyone knows if they are facts or old wives tales I would like to know. For example, I've heard in the past that hornets can be very aggressive, and a sting from one can kil a dog, and several stings would be a serious threat to a human being. Are these true?

Thses are common myths about the European hornet luckily. The european hornet is not aggressive when not defending its nest, and the sting is no more dangerous than a wasp sting to humans or animals, although it may be more painful (I don't know, I've never been stung by one).

I've heard that the Asian hornet sting is more dangerous whic is perhaps where these rumours originated from.

Hornets are actually less agressive than their wasp relatives. It has been found that usually hornets will back away if approached rather than attacking. This is true anyway of the European ones. The Asian ones as Xeract pointed out are alot more dangerous and have venomous stings.

Well that clears things up for me! It's worrying how widespread those rumours are, I've heard many people talk about how dangerous hornets are. I wonder how many hornets nests have perished because of the mis-informed?

I feel a lot better about the hornets around our house now though so thanks.

Hornets have actually recently been in decline largely because of nests being destroyed as you say, which is a terrible shame because they are impressive creatures.

Also, I remember reading an article a while ago about Asian hornets (the more dangerous species) being found as far North as France due to the increasingly warmer climate, so maybe sometime in the future we will have to worry more about them

Last year I found a queen hornet in our shed, it was half way through building a nest! We have a small garden so I couldn't let it build a nest there, it would have meant we couldn't have gone in the small shed all summer, so we I had to try and get it out and then destroy the nest.

Needless to say, it wasn't happy!

I have never had the chance to see a queen hornet before but I would imagine that it would be extremely fearsome.