Evicted!

Yesterday we were horrified to find a nest of hornets living in the stone wall just to the right of the southern opening to the square. I gave them a very wide berth. I have had nasty experiences with these mean bees before. It was cool last night and Ed came up with a plan. Early in the morning before the hornets warmed up and left the nest, Ed donned his bee suit and got his propane torch. I remained inside the house observing the eviction behind the safety of the bedroom window. The bees warmed up fast, but Ed seared them with the flame of his torch as they exited from openings in the wall. When the bees stopped coming, he lifted the cap stone.




This is the nest after it had been well seared. We hope none of the bees got away. They seem to be a vindictive variety who carry a grudge, and who wants angry hornets in their garden?



You can see where the nest was attached to the underside of the cap stone. This wall was one of the first constructed here. Now Ed is careful to fill in the gaps between the stones with sand. This cap stone had been carefully placed so that is was level and solid but unfortunately a cavern like space, just perfect for a nest, was created. The space has been filled in with sand now. No new tenants will move in under this stone!