Elizabeth Township residents report encountering bald-faced hornets

ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. — After a post on an Elizabeth community Facebook page, Neighbors started sharing their encounters with the bald-faced hornet. Some, like Sara Jones, spoke with Channel 11 about going into anaphylactic shock from a sting.

“It was intense pain, but when I was walking back to my house, I just couldn’t breathe anymore,” said Jones

She said she has never had a reaction to any other sting before.

But the reaction might not be the most unnerving fact about these hornets…they actually remember your face! You might say their attack is personal.

Steve Repasky, owner of bee control, said‚ “We’ve actually seen with clients who have a nest that was built on a window of a master bedroom on a second story and the blinds are shut, the drapes are shut and the hornets are normal, but as soon as they open up that drape the shapes change and they recognize that shape as different…they’ll start bouncing off the window attacking it because they are just mean."

He said the hornets are known to attack.

“A bunch of them will come out to the outside and they’ll sit, actually turn and face you, and they’ll be ready to go,” said Repasky. “Then, when they are ready to attack, the whole hive will empty out and they’ll come after you.

He says the reason you may see them now is that the queen is looking for a place to nest. The nest starts as a golf ball but can grow to be the size of a basketball hoop come August.

Repasky said, “The bald-faced hornet just hits harder. It feels like, a lot of people say, it’s a sledgehammer on fire. They just hit you hard- they hit you fast. It burns, and you have that reaction.”

But the bugs are not new. They are common in Western Pennsylvania and the reason Repasky says to keep them around…they are one of the only bugs that prey on lantern flies!

It’s important that folks do not attempt to remove the nests themselves. There can be up to 2,000 hornets in a nest and if they know who you are, they will attack.

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