“If you want a job done well, hire a professional!!”

Good advice that I think someone should pass onto Monsieur Le Maire. But, not me.

Late yesterday afternoon, Eric from SOS Guêpes arrived, spot on time, after driving an hour to get to our friend’s home in Fenouillet.

He quickly surveyed the scene and confirmed that the large nest the ‘hunters’ had shot at three days ago, was finished. Mick and I had been worried that some of the hornets were back re-building it.

Eric, dressed in protective clothing and armed with high pressure spray equipment, followed us upstairs to check out the new nests the frelons (Asian Hornets) were constructing outside the bedroom windows. He then advised Mick and I to leave the room while he went to work.

I stood downstairs (for a very short time) at some distance away and watched as he sprayed a powder onto the hornets and their nests. He spent at least 30 minutes up there watching and waiting and re-spraying as more of the frelons returned to their new nests. He later explained that the residual powder would kill any frelon that later touched it, and that we should leave the powder there for sometime.

Eric was very unhappy to hear about how the large nest in our friend’s tree had been destroyed, explaining in French (and we are only novices here, but he spoke slowly and patiently for us) that while there were two new nests outside these windows, there was likely to be dozens more being started close by in other trees or homes or even in the soil, by the hornets that were not in the nest at the time it was shot down. He explained that shooting the nest was outside the recommended guidelines as it does not guarantee the death of all the dangerous hornets.

He really wanted to show us the correct technique for treating and destroying large nests, so he asked us to follow him to his car. He showed us a telescopic pole that could extend as long as 25m, and could be fitted with hosing pipe that allows the powder to be squirted into the nest, and reminded us that any hornet that later touched the powder when they returned would also die.

But he also had special (serious) equipment he could use if the nest was higher than 25m or in a difficult-to-reach position.

This weapon had telescopic laser sights and he showed us how he could use them to pinpoint a precise shot at a nest.

Check out the green dot on the top window.

He explained that this special ‘gun’ used (expensive and specialised) bullets that were filled with the chemical that could kill the hornets.

 

They looked like marbles.

Mick and I were very happy to have met Eric and extra pleased he made the trip to treat the hornets less than 24 hours after I contacted him. And, what did he charge?

€130 for almost an hour’s work and two hours of driving. Very reasonable indeed.

Mick and I plan to be vigilant in checking for new nests around the home though while we are here, as we have seen how quickly the frelons can set up a home.