HELP! Hornets... hornets... hornets!!

[David S]

hey all,,, We have a serious hornet problem!! I have killed over 100 and removed 2 nests that I can see (find) but they are still swarming my front porch! Cant even come home from work without getting attacked! (Been stung once so far!)

Its getting too damn expensive buying three cans of hornet spray every couple days!!

Give me some ideas on how to get rid of these stupid things!!


On a side note.. not a SINGLE hornet or wasp nest in my tin covered garage LOL ... maybe we should move to the garage! LMAO!!

Dave

 

[RobertMo1988]

Hire someone. pest control or something im sure would do it in one day.

 

[bluntspoon]

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/jqpxz/yellow_jackets_built_a_nest_inside_the_siding_of

I say go for it. Just post lots of pics.

 

[David S]

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/jqpxz/yellow_jackets_built_a_nest_inside_the_siding_of

I say go for it. Just post lots of pics.

now THATS funny!! LOL Redneck bee suit!

Dave

 

[skeletonizer]

Try the traps. I had good luck with them the one time they were harrasing my back deck and I couldn't find the nest. Must have caught 100 or so in it that summer.

 

[Outlawmws]

They are probably in your attic space. I had wasps up there and went up at night (when they were semi dormant) and used one of those wasp sprayers that shoots about 20 feet. Got them all (three nests worth) in one go. Then I used spray foam to close the gap in the boards at the entry where they were streaming in and out. later I used painter's putty to seal all the even smaller gaps that smaller pests like spiders like to hide/nest in. Very few bugs of any sort there now...

 

[djkeev]

You need a lawn chair, a refreshing beverage and about two hours to kill. Set up your chair a safe distance from the porch and after dinner go sit it it. Watch your porch, watch your bees and find their destination, it will be one, maybe two or three openings in your porch area. They also may have a hole in the ground depending upon species.

Bees go home at night, it is best to resist the urge to eradicate any nest during the day for it is mostly empty. The homeless insects will just relocate as a group not very far away.

Once you identify where they go in, go to bed, tomorrow during the heat of the day find the physical nest, it will be largely empty, a few stragglers or guards but activity will be low. It may require removing a few boards but once found, again wait another day until dark or almost dark, take your can of spray and soak that nest! They'll stagger out and fall dead in a pile at your feet. You just killed the entire colony.

An in the ground nest will require a good soaking with a liquid agent, many use gasoline but this is somewhat controversial (but highly effective!), use what you desire.

There is no quick short cut, you must observe them and they'll lead you to their home.

Dave

 

[6768rogues]

I duct taped a shop vac nozzle to the wall next to the hole where the bees were going in and out. Then I hooked up the shop vac and let it run for a whole day. It sucked up thousands of bees. They were not all gone, but it reduced the population and it was fun watching them get sucked in.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Find the entrance first. Drag out the airhose and blow nozzle. Fill up a piece of hose or small tubing (brakeline) with Sevin. Stick one end up in the hole and blow it in the nest.

 

[acer66]

Regarding bees, just call a beekeeper they will remove the bees for free for you,
since that is a free colony for them, at least they do that where I live.

I just hosed down a nest of wasp while it rained pretty good with water and
have to deal with to big yellow jacket nests in the ground.
So far my plan is to drown them sometime in the night and if that does not work the old gasoline might come into play.

But I also had some wasp nests in the attic and did what Outlawmws did.
They were so many gaps etc. in there it was like an open house for these guys.

 

[KEH]

OP was referring to hornets, not bees. Yes, bees will sometimes get in houses as described by djkeev. They will not bee swarming around for days and unless seriously bothered will peacefully make honey, not that is desirable to have them in a house.

Hornets are long, mostly black, and short tempered. Bees are mostly gold colored, short and stubby. Hornets build outside, I've never seen any inside except under porch roof or eaves of house. They do go in at night and should be poisoned at night.

KEH

 

[Kevin54]

]Regarding bees, just call a beekeeper they will remove the bees for free for you,
since that is a free colony for them, at least they do that where I live.
[/B]
I just hosed down a nest of wasp while it rained pretty good with water and
have to deal with to big yellow jacket nests in the ground.
So far my plan is to drown them sometime in the night and if that does not work the old gasoline might come into play.

But I also had some wasp nests in the attic and did what Outlawmws did.
They were so many gaps etc. in there it was like an open house for these guys.

I don't know any beekeeper that wants a hornets nest.

If you can find where they are getting in, you could try setting up a shop-vac. Myself, I would probably get some insect bombs and set one off so it goes in the hole if they are in your attic. If in the ground, go for the gas, hornet spray, or whatever, but be careful. Heck, be careful no matter what. A hornet sting hurts like hell.

If they are in your porch attic, that nest may be larger than what you realize.

 

[srmofo]

http://woodgears.ca/misc/wasp_sucker.html

Build a sucking machine and have at it

 

[Carguy99]

I have had great results using brake clean, stuff dropped them right out of the air. The chlorinated stuff is what you want.
Or if you want hit the nest with a golf club. just make sure you post the video...

 

[mmack66]

I wouldn't mess around with hornets. The term "mad as a hornet" exists for a reason. As previously mentioned, hire a pest control professional.

 

[acer66]

http://woodgears.ca/misc/wasp_sucker.html

Build a sucking machine and have at it

Nice, I might try to just Jerry rig a shop vacuum to do that.

 

[Falcon67]

I use Yard Guard to drop anything I don't want flying around here. Goes a long way when sprayed into a crack or small space. Probably similar to our yellow jackets - been stung a bunch, will do battle with them nose to nose. They always lose.

 

[5lima30]

I have had poor luck with wasp & hornet spray. They will still live long enough to sting you after being sprayed! I know that this will cause the tree-huggers to cringe, but I have had excellent results with carb cleaner! It will kill them in mid-air! Good luck!

 

[darkk]

http://woodgears.ca/misc/wasp_sucker.html

Build a sucking machine and have at it

Nahhhhh, I know this little redhead.....

 

[acer66]

I have had poor luck with wasp & hornet spray. They will still live long enough to sting you after being sprayed! I know that this will cause the tree-huggers to cringe, but I have had excellent results with carb cleaner! It will kill them in mid-air! Good luck!

I think a real tree-hugger cringes at both solutions.

 

[SSAAHemiFan]

I'll second SEVIN

Powder the entrance - they will drag it back to the nest and in a few days they are gone.

 

[rlitman]

I'll second SEVIN

Powder the entrance - they will drag it back to the nest and in a few days they are gone.

This is the best answer to a hornets nest. Sprays don't always soak into the center and kill the queen, and I've personally discovered new activity in a nest after using a can of spray, when the opened a new entrance. SIX cans later, and all was done, but this was before I learned about sevin.

Wasps don't tend to repopulate old nests, so the lack of residual activity in the sprays isn't a big issue, but if you want to permanently deny a cavity to wasps, sevin dust will stick around for a long time (so long as it isn't washed out by rain).

Now, here's one thing to consider though. I did the sevin treatment on an underground nest, and the wasp activity was gone in a day.
BUT a few weeks later, the smell coming from that spot was horrendous. I had to dig everything up, and bury it deeper (with a hint of lime) to end the smell. If this is in your house, and if the nest got large enough, you may end up tearing up walls.

 

[torquepower85]

Okay this worked for me a few years back, but you have to be able to run FAR and FAST.

Basically you get anything that reads "Highly Flammable" like hair spray, or Axe. Or you can get something that says "EXTREMELY Flammable" like Oust. You just get a barbecue lighter and spray the flammable stuff through the flame. Then, obviously, run like HELL. Come back in 5 minutes if it didn't nail them all. Use hose to clean out the next.

 

[ponjohn]

I buy this foaming spray, it engulfs the nest and suffocates them. Bet stuff I have found.

 

[James E]

The homeless insects will just relocate as a group not very far away.

For bees and yellow jackets, kill the queen and the rest will die. They may stick around for a few days wondering what the hell happened, but eventually, the workers will wander off and die or get eaten. No queen, no colony.

If the hornets are constantly at your front porch, I suspect you've got a nest in your eaves or attic.

Also, I concur with Sevin dust and also concur with Brakkleen. I've never seen any chemical spray work as instantaneously as Brakkleen. Just one drop on a flying insect will stop it in mid-air and put it down. The stuff is like the touch of Death himself.

 

[rlitman]

The problem with brakleen, is that I've seen those dropped wasps get up and fly off minutes later (ok, not if you gave them a complete soaking, but only if you dropped them with a glancing shot).
Anyway, have you noticed how most wasp sprays are 99.6% something other than the active ingredient (which is usually a pyrethroid family chemical)?
The other 99.6% is
da da da da
KEROSINE.
Yup. That's it. And it is the kerosine that drops the wasps. It gums up their wings. The pyrethrin (or related chemical) takes a minute or so to kill the wasps.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Once I saw a huge swarm of bees going through the air and was like... whoa, that's interesting...

Then I saw them heading towards our forklift and started swarming around it... then I was like... son of a b*tch....

I guess they decided to try and make it their new home... Unfortunately for them man has mastered the craft of making FIRE...

Burned those little bees to death....

I'm not saying you should burn your house down... hehe...

 

[SGKent]

Once I saw a huge swarm of bees going through the air and was like... whoa, that's interesting...

Then I saw them heading towards our forklift and started swarming around it... then I was like... son of a b*tch....

I guess they decided to try and make it their new home... Unfortunately for them man has mastered the craft of making FIRE...

Burned those little bees to death....

I'm not saying you should burn your house down... hehe...

those may have been African 'killer' bees attracted to the low vibrations of the equipment.

 

[David S]

Thanks for all the tips guys!!

Yup, hornet sting hurts like HELL!! got stung by one in the leg.. that was a week ago and the red dot is still there! LOL

I have noticed the hornet buzzing population go WAY down since I took out two nests on Monday I think it was... only seen about 6 last night when I got home... killed off about 4 of them... BUT... later last night before dark, the GF went out to water her impatients plants and came back in and said screw that!! She had bout 10 come out of the plant at her!!

Tonight there were ZERO on the front porch!!! I'm not saying they are gone... but it was nice to go in the house without ducking!! I havent checked the plants yet...

OK... got a question about the queen... I read above that the queen will be in the "center" of the nest??

Reason I ask is because we have a full front porch for the whole front of the house... about 35ft... house entrance door is on the right end of the porch. There "was" one nest at the porch corner post at the front door end which I wipped out the other night.

I also seen them going in on the other end of the porch were it meets the house by the eve, in the corner...

AND oddly enough, the day I found the nest on the right side, there were DOZENS coming from behind a bag of planting soil left on the porch by my GF... i mean they started swarming that area on the floor of the porch... behind the bag so I soaked them with a whole can of spray and killed most. After they all died or dispersed, I took and looked in the bag, behind the bag, under the bag and nothin... figured I would find a nest there but didnt.

So with this many spots in various locations, will there be one queen for all nests or multiple queens, one for each nest??

Last week I found the first nest at the back of the house in a down spout, which is the one that stung my ***!! walked by the spout and BAM!! got my calf... stung like a MF!! And yes, that nest is also toast!! Its still hanging there but no activity from it last I looked last night. BTW, didnt have the front porch problem until I toasted the downspout nest..

Anyways, thanks again for the ideas... and NO, not gonna hit them with a golf club... so no "look at that dumb ***" video... LMAO!!

Dave

 

[ElectroLight]

I had a yellow jacket problem last year. I killed those suckers one at a time with the HF hand held zapper. Just taped that sucker to a broom stick, taped the power button ON and went to town It took a few weeks to get um all, but after a while I'd tap on the siding and no body would come out looking for a fight. My plan was to starve the queen and her lackies. Any wasp coming or going was mine! I killed about 30 every day I went after them. Good times.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Even after you kill the nest it can take a few days for the others to dissipate from the area. Like others said, look for if/where they are going into your home and seal them off! They love attic spaces, usually any place up high is where I see them. It's not to say they couldn't be under a porch or whatnot but if the nest was low that would leave them vulnerable to critters.

I have no idea if it would be one queen or multiple, or if it was the same group making multiple nests or what... Ususally when I find a nest there's just one, I'm super paranoid about hornets & wasps...

I'll have to look at the stuff I use, it works extremely good, just the slightest amount on them and they drop out of the sky and start going into shock and are completely dead within minutes.

 

[Falcon67]

FIRE! My grandfather used a flaming oily rag on a stick to burn out wasp/etc nests. I refrain where possible.

 

[MP&C]

Here's my nephews bout with hornets....

 

[millertime]

FIRE! My grandfather used a flaming oily rag on a stick to burn out wasp/etc nests. I refrain where possible.

That's funny! My grandfather told me his dad would do the same thing to a hornet's nest found on the house.....

 

[Steroblan]

I use what the pros use. Termidor SC. Availible online for most states and approved for exterior eaves and foundation now. Don't ask a tree hugger where to get it. Follow directions and safety and in 3 days after spraying, wasp and hornet problem is gone for the entire year. My area is about 100 most of the summer and the flying devils can get thick enough to keep you inside.

 

[MBfreak]

Hi,

Had a small hornets nest under the roof overhang, pretty well hidden. Size was abour 20 cm dia. Used a trick i learned from my grandfather, who was a farmer.

Fill up a manually pumped-up spray bottle with acetone. Wait until evening /night.
Spray/soak down the nest with acetone mist. The nest will kind of melt and any perps getting out gets a good acetone misting, they fall down dead in a fraction of a second.
Then , immediately after the deed, get access to the nest and remove it with a shop-vac. Plug the shop vac hose when done.
Scrub the nest foot area with acetone.

Over the next couple of days some confused hornets will search for the nest, and then they will be totally gone.

Ola

 

[slamin81]

pest control $100 buck and they garentee it.

 

[TwoInch]

this is worth a look. doesnt get stung once suprisingly, and only a stick and a can off OFF mosquito repellent.... i figured he was gonna ger smoked

 

[Garage5.9]

http://thechive.com/2010/08/06/now-thats-how-you-debate-with-bees-16-photos/

 

[Kevin54]

Once I saw a huge swarm of bees going through the air and was like... whoa, that's interesting...

Then I saw them heading towards our forklift and started swarming around it... then I was like... son of a b*tch....

I guess they decided to try and make it their new home... Unfortunately for them man has mastered the craft of making FIRE...

Burned those little bees to death....

I'm not saying you should burn your house down... hehe...

http://thechive.com/2010/08/06/now-thats-how-you-debate-with-bees-16-photos/

In both of those pics, those looked more like honey bees. We don't have enough of those around the way it is. And if they were Honey Bees, I would have called in a beekeeper to remove them.

Now if they were Yellow Jackets, that is a different story altogether.