Jeez, last year this time it was wheel bugs, now this

Any advice. I saturated it with wasp spray yesterday evening, activity at the hive continues this morning.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, dealing with the wife's cataract surgery coming right up.

I would not use the shovel just yet. Spray at dusk and wait.

Nuke it from orbit.

I can handle a lot, but 'bees' are one I don't do.
I keep a few cans of wasp spray on the porch to dispatch the jumbo red wasps we get here in TX.

Are they still going in/out of nest or just buzzing around? If the latter may be "leftovers" not home when you sprayed in evening and trying to sort out what's up and will move on.

If not, try spraying super early in morning before they get out and about. My understanding is morning is always better from standpoint of full population as well as being less agitated than evening.

Or just call a pro and write a well worth it check. Sounds like you've got other things on your plate and this looks like trouble.

I'd keep hosing it down with wasp/hornet spray until you don't see any activity, before removing it.

Tall can of brake parts cleaner or carb and choke cleaner. Attach the little red tube. It shoots long range and will kill them all. Shoot it right up into their front door.

Where's that "kill it with fire!" meme? Burning down the house is a small price to pay.

Spraying the nest late in the evening or early in the morning increases the chances of getting them all.

You might also try a different type of wasp spray. Some (for example, Ortho Home Defense wasp/hornet spray) also leave residual chemicals that affect returning bugs, even if they aren't home when you first spray it.

Just don't do this:

That's a good size nest. The pestacide spray will kill the ones flying in and out.
I had a similiar nest. Pestacide at dusk. Took out the water hose--the nest shredded from the water.
Problem solved. Paper mache can't withstand water pressure.

I've never had the wasp/hornet spray that shoots a stream of the stuff a long ways fail.

I wait until well after dark, until the temps have dropped a bit, then go out there with a flash light and literally douse the nest, starting with their main ingress/egress.

WARNING: Be careful with this. If you don't hit it aggressively enough, fast enough, and they start coming out, they will head for the light you're holding--and you. Be prepared to run like the dickens and get inside!

I used to "suit up" with foul weather gear, including a hood, before doing this. But, after getting the process down and doing it several times with never having them come after me, now risk doing it in just shorts and a tee shirt.

I've had to treat things like entries under the µBarn multiple times--probably because the actual nest wasn't just the other side of the crack. But I've never had to hit a nest like that pictured more than once.

One of my neighbors did the thing with a bag, but he did it with the mouth of the bag over a snare on a long pole. He maneuvered the bag around the nest, pulled the snare, and brought the thing down. Boy, were they pissed!

The only one that got stung was me, just standing kind of nearby, as I watched the neighbor head towards the woods with the bag.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Just don't do this:

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Lol.
One of my employees did that with a Hornet nest that was about 18 inches in diameter. It was 40 feet up in a tree we were trimming. He just calmly went up in the aerial lift and wrapped it in a garbage bag. He didn’t even get stung.

Garden hose with a jet fitting. The nest is just paper. Hosing it down and breaking it apart will destroy the nest.
With a jet type hose attachment, you can do it from some distance.

You can find them in brass at lowes or Home Depot for under ten bucks.

As a child, my preferred weapon was a wrist rocket slingshot. The standard load was a glass marble. If funds were low, green acorns were my practice load. Lots of practice made for proficiency. Once, several of my friends were standing under a tree, looking up at a hornet nest. I x-ringed the nest with a marble and a large portion of it fell on my friends. The results were predictable. I was unscathed, since the wrist rocket afforded me a safe distance from the action.
Whenever someone posts a wasp or bee story, I am reminded of this warm childhood memory. Thank you!

Majority of cataract surgery is painless and trouble free. Should not be a problem unless she is extremely nearsighted and/or diabetic

If I was to mess with this at all I would set up a water hose or sprinkler aimed at the nest - set the timer for it to come on in 10 minutes and stay on for 5 minutes - and then I would get in my house or drive to the next town…..Those are some bad ass dudes when they get pissed off.

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
Majority of cataract surgery is painless and trouble free. Should not be a problem unless she is extremely nearsighted and/or diabetic

Personally, I wouldn't trust hornets to perform something as delicate as cataract surgery... They're too temperamental, and most likely aren't even licensed surgeons.

Be sure to time this so they aren't in the middle of "angry hour."

they are nasty. why did you wait soooo long?
I would get the foaming spray. Spray it good at first light. Try to get some in the opening.

Get this.
"SpectracidePRO Wasp & Hornet Killer"

It has to be the "pro" version.

Fast knock down and...
It contains a residual pesticide that "kills returning wasps and hornets for 4 weeks"

At Amazon

Also stocked at Lowes and Home Depot.

Soak the nest (I like after dark by flashlight or headlamp) try to hit the entrance hole... do it again in a couple days, they die, knock down nest later at your convenience after no activity is seen.

It has to be the "pro" version.
The "regular" NON pro version has poor knock down effect.

My grandson who does a lot of construction/repair work on old barns swears by it.


If by chance they come at you, drop the light and run!