The taste of hornet: From a social divider to a unifying delicacy

Once restricted by feudal forest ownership and dismissed by outsiders, harvesting hornets in Nepal's eastern hills has shifted from a survival meal into a sought-after culinary festival

KATHMANDU: It is hornet season. Right now, people in hill villages are wandering and roaming through villages, forests, trees, and ground, following grazing and flying hornets to find their nests. Some are making arrangements to harvest the hornet nests they have found. Some are boasting about the hornets they harvested last time. Meanwhile, some are worried whether they might not get any this year.

Indigenous Kirats of the eastern hills have been eating hornets since the time of their ancestors. Therefore, as a tribute to their ancestors, they desire to place at least a little bit of hornet in their mouths once a year to sanctify their tongues. That very desire keeps them running here and there. This cycle lasts for three months—mid-August to mid-November. Those in a hurry get active as early as mid-July.

Although only the hornet is mentioned when speaking, this includes creatures from three groups—large hornets/wasps, common hornets, and paper wasps. The largest ones are called wasps, the medium-sized ones are called common hornets, and the small ones are called paper wasps.

Hornets cannot tolerate the winter cold. Therefore, to protect themselves from the cold, they hide in the bark of trees, crevices of stones and logs, or underground, and go into a state of fasting hibernation.

The homes of large hornets and common hornets consist of a nest on the outside and layered, sheet-like combs on the inside. Large hornets build nests underground, especially by expanding rotten tree roots or termite mounds. These have to be dug out. Common hornets are found living at the tops of tall trees, in the middle of branches, in bushes, on houses, sheds, platforms, and underground as well. The homes of paper wadps have only a single layer without an outer casing.

Globally, 22 species of hornets/wasps and 1,200 species of paper wasps have been recorded. All of these are hibernating creatures. This means hiding away motionless and fasting in a dormant state for a few months of the year—or as it is called in village parlance, “sitting in a cave.”

Hornets cannot tolerate the winter cold. Therefore, to protect themselves from the cold, they hide in the bark of trees, crevices of stones and logs, or underground, and go into a state of fasting hibernation. As the spring sun begins to warm everything up, they emerge and, according to their respective genetic traits, begin building nests on tall trees, in bushes, around houses and sheds, underground, or in caves. They begin expanding their offspring.

A nest started from a small dot by a single hornet around April–June becomes a large nest by September–November, accommodating thousands of offspring and thousands of hornets. By the time mid-November sets in, they abandon the nest and head toward safe places. Most die. A rare few survive and engage in the work of expanding offspring starting from April-June.

Mid-September to mid-October is considered the season for harvesting hornets. But since hornets are venomous creatures capable of flying at high speed, harvesting them is not easy.

According to experts on the life cycle of hornets, there are three types of hornets in a single nest—queen, worker, and male. The queen leads the nest and lays eggs to produce offspring. Workers perform work and defense. The job of the male is to fertilize the queen and die immediately. A single nest can have multiple queens, unlike bees where there is only one. Only the fertilized queens survive the long winter cold to awaken in spring; all others die.