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

[rlitman]

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

Yeah, fire is a GREAT way to kill yellowjackets around your house!

Even after you kill the nest it can take a few days for the others to dissipate from the area.

This is especially true if you try to go about killing workers. There is always another ready to hatch from an egg, and forage. Trapping, and zapping and vacuuming only work, if you can guarantee that you kill EVERY worker. This is pretty much impossible, so the nest may shrink in population, but the queen will continue to lay eggs.

Oh, and spraying the nest during the day is a bad idea for this reason too.
Wasp spray is repellent, so once you spray the nest, any workers that were out foraging will return, but will not enter the nest and get poisoned. They will continue to buzz the vicinity of the nest for days, and being homeless, they're especially pissed off and in the mood to sting.

So, if you're going to spray, do it at night, when everyone is home.
But the dust is really the best option. It isn't repellent like the spray, so they carry it right into the nest, and spread it all around.

 

[David S]

Hey all, welp I gotta update a little... First off, I mistakenly said "hornets" and after some looking, we have instead "yellow jackets or paper wasp" ... they still sting like hell either way! LOL

The past couple days/evenings, ive only noticed a few tragglers here and there. not really going in the house anywhere I can notice. They just land on the house then fly off like they are either searching for the nest or trying to find a new spot to build.

I'm gonna try the trap thing and see how that works and maybe find some sevin somewhere.

Thanks again.
Dave

 

[James E]

This one is cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=v4h_DIQKPPI&NR=1

BTW, a yellow jacket is more yellow than black. A paper wasp is more black than yellow. Also, a paper wasp looks more "waspish", longer and larger than a yellow jacket. Yellow jackets also fly into their nest, like a hive, whereas a paper wasp has a nest where you can see the larvae chambers.

 

[Steroblan]

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

Whoa there! Flamable liquid and a shop vac is a good combo for an explosion.

 

[EOC_Jason]

The acetone should evaporate quick enough to not be a hazard, but attempt that at your own risk.

You can get Sevin dust at HD/Lowes/Walmart... Any big plant place too...

 

[spongerich]

I've had excellent success vacuuming them. Just wait until dusk and prop the nozzle where they're coming in/out for a couple of hours. Do this 1 or 2 days in a row. You may see some stragglers for a few days afterwards. Squirt a little RAID into the vac when you're done and wait a day before opening it. I've done this a half dozen times and it's always worked. Never got stung, didn't have to spray a bunch of toxic chemicals into the house.

 

[thruthefence]

I was cutting the grass at my wife-to-be's house, when I was popped by a couple of yellow jackets; the nest being underground. I carefully surveyed the spot they emerged from, and ty-rapped the deadman on the lawn mower, lowered the deck, and pushed it over the nest entrance, and let it run while I killed a couple of Budweisers. As they came out to attack the mower, they were minced up very efficiently. Must have cleaned 'em out, because we never were bothered again.

 

[stormin]

dang i tried to video the hittin that durn nest wif a golf club but those little buggers attacked me i ran faster n' forest gump n' jumped in the cement pond. shoulda seen da wife ask me why i looked dizzy

 

[stormin]

i got even tho i burned the nest with a gallon o' gas and lit a match. got every one of those little devils. unfortunately the garage burned down. but i got rid of em and that's all what matters to me. the gas fumes make me dizzy tho.

 

[David S]

dang i tried to video the hittin that durn nest wif a golf club but those little buggers attacked me i ran faster n' forest gump n' jumped in the cement pond. shoulda seen da wife ask me why i looked dizzy

LMAO!!! hate to tell you all this but when that one stung me on the leg, I actually dropped to my knees trying to get away!!! I was like WTF!! running and dropped to my knees and couldnt move when it stung me.. my fu@#in legs didnt work no more!!! Just an inside note: When I was 12, I had a swarm attack me and stung me mutliple times!! ever since then I've been super afraid of these bastards!!!

About the vid... oh Im sure if my GF had a vid camera she would be tapin the whole episode!! LOL

Killed two off today trying to make a new nest on the back porch... havent seen any on the front porch is the last two days ;-)

Dave

 

[broman78]

get the old school blue dawn mix up water with the soap. let the bubbles settle then pour that solution on the nest or any flying insects. kills them cheaply, quickly, and few toxic chemicals.

 

[Terapin]

A very effective method, and non-toxic, is to get a spray bottle or garden sprayer and mix up a soapy solution of dish soap and water. I have used it on several nests and the hornets die quicker than any chemical spray. I believe I read that the soap film suffocates them somehow. If you find the nest and wait until dusk you will wipe out the nest. Have done it many times and always worked well... and no toxins as well as cheap. Good luck.

 

[Terapin]

Ha Ha Just saw the post above my entry. Sorry to repeat.

 

[acer66]

Nice, I did not know that, does that also work with Simple Green?

 

[MScott]

Big Brother is watching! ^^^^

 

[Outlawmws]

Actually I'm impressed. It's not like we don't know GJ doesn't get a million hits for Google searches and they simply noted it being referenced and that I'm sure the "letter" is a standard CYA statement. better than having their head in the sand...

 

[rlitman]

Actually I'm impressed. It's not like we don't know GJ doesn't get a million hits for Google searches and they simply noted it being referenced and that I'm sure the "letter" is a standard CYA statement. better than having their head in the sand...

Yeah. But it still is big brother watching (not that that is entirely a bad thing).
The letter is straight to the point, covers the company from a liability standpoint, and says pretty much nothing. Sounds like the work of a summer intern in their legal department.

 

[May Pop]

When I was 10 we found a nest in the ground in our neighbors yard. We called the place Batterhams dump cause old man batterham just dumped and burned his trash out there.
So three 10 yr olds decide we will get rid of the nest. So we developed a plan to beat them. Dan was to take a bucket of mud and dump it into the hole. John quickly takes a piece of cardboard and covers the muddy hole. Me being the youngest and smartest I am to put an old chair on top of the cardboard so they cant fly out.
The plan was sound except as soon as Dan dumps the mud into the hole the angry bees fly out of another hole nearby like bats out of hell. John didnt even see them coming. Me being the last and smartest continued on with the plan to also get stung many times. Sometimes I wonder how Im still alive.

Good Luck
Ron

 

[Outlawmws]

Yeah. But it still is big brother watching (not that that is entirely a bad thing).
The letter is straight to the point, covers the company from a liability standpoint, and says pretty much nothing. Sounds like the work of a summer intern in their legal department.

Can't argue with that! But I bet their chief legal counsel reviewed it before it went out!

 

[David S]

haha... I noticed that post earlier today but was working... now it is no longer here?

Oh well, Just to calm "their" minds, I did nothing more than I originally posted... now, I have ZERO wasp!!! So, I must got the queen or whatever cause they slowly disappeared after my battle with them! Havent seen any in the last two weeks!!

Dave