Slow learner and White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend, at a press conference today:
And the answer is, every time you poke the hornet’s nest they are bound to come back and push back on you. That doesn’t suggest to me that we shouldn’t be doing it.
In most cases, hornet “push back” consists of them pushing their stingers into your skin. And for most people — those who are not masochistic to the point that they enjoy the sting of a good hornet or those mentally incapable of learning a fairly simple lesson — there is a body of historical evidence and advice that supports the idea that you shouldn’t poke hornet nests.
How Not to Get Stung
If you do happen to see a nest, there are few things you can do to avoid being stung:
- Do not disturb the nest in anyway.
- Do not make any loud noises.
- Stay back from the nest.
- Do not bother a hornet who is trying to go to its nest.
- Do not disturb the air by moving your hands or arms around.
- Do not breathe on the nest or on a hornet.
- Never kill a hornet near its nest.
- Do not break a hornetÂ’s nest. It is much safer in one piece.
- Do not attempt to remove a hornetÂ’s nest in the middle of the day. Wait until it is cooler outside.