A few weeks ago i saw what i thought was just an ants' nest in a tree at the back of my place, but when it tripled in size in a few weeks, i began to get a bit concerned. A closer inspection revealed that it really is a hornets' nest. I have had previous encounters with the Asian giant hornet, known as tu fong in Chinese (ground hornet), but this is what they call hu tou fong, or tiger head hornet. Supposedly there are two kinds - one with an orange face and another which is all black - i've got the black ones. They are smaller than the tu fong, which is able to inject more venom, but apparently they make up for it other ways. For one thing, whereas the tu fong tend to attack singularly and not in a particularly organized fashion, these guys will swarm all over you and attack en masse. Secondly, and equally as disturbing, they can apparently spit venom, which they aim at the eyes. Goggles are and important part of the hunter's protective gear.

A-Fa, the guy who led the last expedition to catch the tu fong, has again stepped up and is coming back tonight, weather permitting, to catch them. It has to be done at night as that is when they are all back in the nest. Additionally, they are attracted to the light which makes it easier to catch them.

I have been told to turn off all my house lights as they will be attracted to any light, and i have also had to warn my neighbor as they will pick up the scent of any human in the vicinity of 300 metres and attack them once their nest has been disturbed. Still tossing up whether i am game to put on the clothes and film proceedings. Two things, the fact that i got stung doing that last time, and the idea of hundreds of them swarming over my body trying to find a way through the protective clothing are making me a bit nervous about the operation - we will see.