Local residents of Teisterbantstraat in Empel cannot get out of it: in a tree near a playground nearby there is a large nest Asian horners and the municipality does not take their care about this seriously according to the residents. In her feeling from the cupboard, resident Jolanda Reuser was sent to the wall when she reported the nest. “In the end we heard that it can take up to two weeks before it is removed,” she says. “I really don’t understand that the municipality is waiting for so long, with a playground.”
The top of the tree in which the nest hangs fluttering through the strong wind on Wednesday afternoon. And that is exactly what local residents are worried. A week ago, such a wasp’s nest also fell down in the Bossche district of the Kruiskamp. The aggressive Asian hornets even attacked a police car. In the end, fully packed beekeepers had to be used to clean up the nest.
Reason enough for Jolanda Reuser to call the municipality after the discovery of the Nest on Friday. “He responded very well in the first instance and wanted to pass it on to the waste service service, but it had no priority for the waste service service.”
Jolanda had to report the nest on the Website Waarneming.nl. “Subsequently, the municipality gave it back to the neighborhood council in Empel and it, like a beekeeper, indicated that it would take days before something could be done.” The departure of the playground was also not at the top of the priority list of the municipality and the neighborhood council.
“You shouldn’t think that it falls and children are being stabbed.”
Jolanda didn’t really know what she heard. “I don’t understand that the municipality is so sitting on us. And then not at all at a playground where children are sitting. You shouldn’t think that the nest is coming down while playing here and children are being stabbed.”
Melanie van der Biezen also does not understand that it must all take so long. “They should have dropped it here at least until the nest is removed. I understand that it is busy removing all those nests now, but I think a nest at a playground should have a priority.”
The neighborhood has therefore decided to take action itself, says Melanie. “We have sealed the playground with ribbons and warnings. To prevent our children from being stabbed if the nest falls down.” What the neighborhood mainly sticks is the difficult communication with the municipality. According to residents, it feels like the municipality is leaving it at its course.
The municipality of Den Bosch indicates that it is aware of the nest. “However, the fight against horn nests lies with the province, because it is a special kind of wasps,” a spokesperson indicates. Wednesday employees of the municipality went to look at the nest and fences were placed around the tree. “These will remain until the province has looked at it.”
The province announced last week that removing all the horn nests is ‘impossible’ because the number of nests is growing too fast. “That is why the province decided last year to temporarily only combat the nests that hang in risky places, for example close to a schoolyard or playing field.” It is not clear on Wednesday evening if and when the nest will be investigated in Empel.
The municipality of Den Bosch advises residents when they find a Hoornaarnest to contact the customer service of the Waste Stoffendienst. “Are available on workdays and can refer to the province in this case. They also report to our own experts to fight pests, to be sure that they are not ordinary wasps. Those experts can in turn also switch with the fighter who acts on behalf of the province.”
