Paper Machet Art

The hornets' nest I'm watching began in mid-May as a small gray structure about the size and shape of a Georgia pecan, attached to the eave outside the bathroom window on the back side of the house. It's two stories above ground but the deck affords a close-up perspective. I wish I had started taking photos at first notice. Within a week or so it grew to the size and shape of a perfectly round golf ball with a dime-sized hole in the very bottom. Within two days it had grown a long straight finger-sized tube that extended vertically downward from the hole. By the time I returned from my travels two weeks later it had transformed into a new shape entirely, thrice its size, with the hole, now quarter-sized, moved to the side facing away from the house, and near the top. At that point I began taking photos. In the twelve days since my return it has kept the same shape, but grown, one layer at a time to near coconut size. Its shape defies description. Each new layer is about a quarter inch thick and wraps the whole thing in a smooth papery covering that begins and ends at the side-hole entrance. The photos will tell the rest of the story. A description of the hornets themselves must wait for another day. dkm