Don’t open a nest of worms

This beauty was often uttered by a Judge, says the contributor. It is a nice congruent conflation of “hornet’s nest” and “a can of worms”, both describing a complex, difficult problem or situation. “A can of worms” seems to be a phrase often jumbled, as there are other variations of this theme posted here previously. E.g. https://malaphors.com/2016/04/25/i-dont-want-to-open-up-that-hill-of-worms/ https://malaphors.com/2013/10/12/thatll-be-a-kettle-of-worms/ https://malaphors.com/2012/12/18/thats-a-real-ball-of-worms/ https://malaphors.com/2015/04/10/lets-not-open-up-that-can-of-bees/

A big thanks to Aileen Bowers for sharing this one.