European Hornet & Prey

While chasing butterflies today a huge hornet showed up, going from one flowering plant to another, but never landing. Suddenly it dove and grabbed a honey bee right in front of me. It seemed to crush the bee's neck between the large pincher-like mandibles(?), then flew off, all in the space of 3-4 seconds. I got off a quick few shots, but had no clue what type of hornet it was until researching on-line for a fair while.

It turns out it was a European Hornet (Vespa crabro), a species I had never seen before. It was approx. 2 1/2" long and seemed an efficient predator - the honey bee never had a chance!

Not the best photo, but good enough that I could make an identification.

Nikon D300; 300mm; f 7.1 @ 1/1600th; ISO 400; HH; approx.50% crop.

All comments and suggestions most welcome.