THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB
HEADQUARTERS:
THE PASSMORE EDWARDS MUSEUM,
ROMFORD ROAD, STRATFORD,
LONDON, E1S 4LZ
NEWSLETTER NO. 5 January 1993
EDITORS NOTE
Thank you to Del Smith for his work as Editor of the Newsletter. He has handed editorship
over to Peter Harvey and items for the Newsletter should therefore now be sent to Peter
Harvey at 9 Kent Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6DE.
Thank you also to those members who have responded to requests for items to the
Newsletter. I would continue to ask members for contributions. There must be lots of
interesting observations and information that would be worth sharing with other Field Club
members.
Peter Harvey
PROGRAMME FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 1993
The programme card will now run from March 31st 1993 to March 31st 1994. The
meetings before 31st March are therefore given on page 9 of the Newsletter.
HORNETS IN ESSEX
I was interested to read Del Smith's note in the last Newswletter. I also had not noticed
Hornets in Essex prior to 1992 but had been familiar with them in places like the New
Forest.
During 1992 a moth trap was operated in Hatfield Forest with the help and cooperation of
Martin Atkinson, the deputy warden. In the late summer Hornets began to be caught in the
trap until in September there were up to nine taken in a night.
Their size and appearance demands some respect, but in the cool of the morning they are
drowsy and docile. Those who work moth traps are sometimes troubled by numbers of
wasps being caught in late summer. These are a great nuisance: not only are they a hazard to
the person going through the trap, they are also very vicious, attacking the moths and tearing
off their wings. By comparison the Hornets are really very good natured.
DavidAgassiz