anyone else collect these?

[river scum]

hornets nest

if so what do you do with them? i just spray them with polyurethain satin.

[Cray]

That's pretty neat but I ain't getting close enough to one to collect it

[NeonMoon]

Don't collect 'em, but did save this one from a tree in Dads yard. Gotta be careful what time of the year you snag 'em, especially if you take them inside.

[olduckhunter]

river scum, i have 4 here in the house and about that many more in a house over in mo. so i guess you could say i collect them. they are a neat thing for a man's room or for any room for that matter. i have gotten one off the tree while it still had hornets in it and my hired hand got one great big one that still had hornets in it. we put them in a trash bag and kept fishing and i put them in a freezer at home for a couple of weeks and just hung them up. didn't spray anything on them. just don't bump or knock them around and they will last for years. in the last one i got the hornets had already left it and when i got it home a few dead ones fell out of it. i took them and a straight pin and pinned them to the nest so people could see what a hornet looked like. they are not nearly as big as you would think. if you see one in a tree they will normally leave the nest after the first couple of frosts and then are safe to get but if you are the only one that knows about it give it longer to be safe or do as i and my hired hand did and that was dress up in heavy insulated overalls and used long welding gloves and a welding helmet and a raincoat with the hood over the helmet. then no stings. if that were mine i'd tie a string to each end of the stick and hang it. if you aren't gonna keep it that size nest should bring 50.00 or more at an antique mall. it's nice one. google hornets life span and read about them.

[river scum]

thats a great idea about the pin!!! thx for the idea.

[olduckhunter]

if you don't have any hornets you might shake the nest and there may be some dead ones still in it. they look live pinned by the hole. just don't let people "fondle" the nest. it's fragil but hanging will last a long time. all of mine are over 30 years old except the last one that i got 2 years ago.

[Ol' Man]

I had one for several years but from so many moves it finally gave up the ghost. As you said, they are fragile.