A few days ago Judy and I decided to replenish our grape jelly supply. Of course to do that, you need grapes. As I was getting out the kettles,sugar and pectin, Judy went out to pick grapes.
She had almost a basketful when out of the corner of her eye she was startled by an alarming sight, a hornet’s nest just inches away from her head!
After regaining her composure, she realized there was no activity around the nest at all.
Apparently an animal, most likely a skunk, had torn into the nest looking for hornet larvae to eat. By now, all of the hornets were long gone.
Look at both photos and you will see that the hornets built their nest right on a grapevine. As the nest grew larger, it engulfed the grapes until the grapes themselves became part of the nest. You can see the grapes ripening both inside and outside of the nest!
Working outside in your garden, you never know what wonder of nature you are going to find next!
And, yes, we did go on to make a couple of batches of jelly.
Bob