It's getting close to the time for doing our annual deer hunting preparations at the rural recreational property.
We have the new mobile hunting shack to get into position and set up.
Also, a new steel ladder stand to get assembled and set up, and move an existing steel ladder stand.

When we bush hogged this year on Labor Day weekend, we put our additional hand tools and cooler full of chilled water under a thorn apple tree on the edge of the field.
I happened to look up in the thorn apple tree, and saw this active nest which is somewhat larger than a basketball.
I don't want to be anywhere near that nest when they are pissed off!
I will generally leave them alone if there isn't any risk to people, but in this case they need to be eliminated.
Winter will kill them off, but I don't have the luxury of waiting that long.

14691 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

We have plenty of work to do within feet of this nest, and I don't want to have anyone get stung.

I consider it excessively dry here at my location to "kill it with fire" so that's off the table.

Tannerite is also off the table due to shooting high energy rifle projectiles skyward.

Bee/wasp/hornet/yellow jacket spray that shoots a stream rather than a fog? It's about nine to ten feet off the ground.

Several brave men with autoloading 12 gauge shotguns and magazine tubes filled with 7 1/2 birdshot after dark and a bright LED flashlight to illuminate the aiming point?

It's rural, no issues with gunshots after dark.

Please give me more options!

https://youtu.be/47FRTDrXUUo?si=K6MD2tatNtROxInE

Gorilla Glue spray

Man, that's nuts. I made the mistake of entering a plywood built deer blind a few weeks ago without wasp spray, and paid the price.

I went back with fogger bombs and 12 hours later followed up with 2 cans of spectracide wasp spray (the stream) (readily available at Tractor Supply and Home Depot), and calmly stood there watching as they all died what I hope was a painful and miserable death. My elbow is still sore from where I was stung.

The last time I saw a nest as horrific as yours was in John Wayne's "Rio Lobo" when a wasps nest was thrown into a railcar to facilitate stealing an army payroll.

Wait until winter, there is always next year.

I have one about that big hanging over my driveway right now. I'm in the leave it alone camp. Nothing good can come from messing with them. If I piss them off I'm gonna get stung, and if I successfully evict them the ones that survive are gonna find somewhere else to go...with my luck it'll be inside my house.

One thing I can definitely tell you NOT to do is stand directly under them and blast them with bird shot. My teenage son did that with one (further poof that teenagers are stupid) and reaped predictable results.

You could always find some kids and tell them it's a pinata :

https://youtu.be/_lSrpi7FdWU?si=F8YSEV60h4TGFdRW

Hire a pro

I don’t see a problem with two-three shots from the shotgun, then leave the area. High powered 6 or 4 shot 15-20 yards away. Ideally do the shooting on a cool morning.

I had a Yellow Jacket hive, just like you picture, hanging above my deck, about 10+ ft away, located in a tree.
I bought a long extension poll built to hold a spray can and trigger a release from the can at the opposite end where you hold it.
I used Black Flag foaming Wasp spray.
I raised the can to the nest and released the foam all over the entrance to the nest and then the hive itself. NO SURVIVORS!
After several week the hive fell to the ground.

A full can of hair spray and a bic lighter make a great blowtorch flame but you said flames were off limits. ............. drill sgt.

A can of hornet spray will wipe that thing out if it can be reached.

All attempts should be done at night when its cooler. They go pretty much dormant.

Night 1: From as far away as manageable, 1 Bird shot to open the nest up. Run.
Night 2: saturate the remains with hornet spray.


Ive used this to kill many nests
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sp...t-HG-27221/322589925

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
I had a Yellow Jacket hive, just like you picture, hanging above my deck, about 10+ ft away, located in a tree.
I bought a long extension poll built to hold a spray can and trigger a release from the can at the opposite end where you hold it.
I used Black Flag foaming Wasp spray.
I raised the can to the nest and released the foam all over the entrance to the nest and then the hive itself. NO SURVIVORS!
After several week the hive fell to the ground.

I like this idea. I looked the sprayer on Amazon and found several options like these…

https://www.amazon.com/spray-c...y+can+extension+pole

You can get everything for less than $100 if you don’t already have an extension pole.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
I had a Yellow Jacket hive, just like you picture, hanging above my deck, about 10+ ft away, located in a tree.
I bought a long extension poll built to hold a spray can and trigger a release from the can at the opposite end where you hold it.
I used Black Flag foaming Wasp spray.
I raised the can to the nest and released the foam all over the entrance to the nest and then the hive itself. NO SURVIVORS!
After several week the hive fell to the ground.

I like this idea. I looked the sprayer on Amazon and found several options like these…

https://www.amazon.com/spray-c...y+can+extension+pole

You can get everything for less than $100 if you don’t already have an extension pole.

Thats exactly what I used.

If you have a local farm store, you might consider buying an appropriately sized Tyvek suit (spray coveralls) and a beekeeper’s hat. I want to say the beekeeper’s hat was $15 at the local Farm Supply Company. We use the Tyvek coveralls for spraying and have them on hand but they’re not very expensive. When working around bees or wasps, with the above, a pair of gloves, and four rubber bands (seal legs of coveralls around boots, arms around gloves), one’s stress level goes *WAY* down.

Once you have your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) squared away, you can use glue, wasp spray, whatever you like. First thing in the morning or at or shortly after dusk your odds of catching them all in the nest re higher, and if they do respond they’ll be moving slower.

Good luck!

How cold does it get at night?

I would like to be doing my tasks at the property this coming weekend.
Nighttime forecast lows for the upcoming week are between 50 F° & 60 F° so
not exactly optimal for the cold making them sluggish.

It doesn’t need to be “cold” just nighttime. They go in at night.
The only wasp spray I’ve had to use shot a stream a good 15’.
Night, douse the shit out of it, go away. They’ll be dead by morning.

one of those streamed when sprayed brake or carb cleaners may help too,

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
A full can of hair spray and a bic lighter make a great blowtorch flame but you said flames were off limits. ............. drill sgt.

My mom always wondered where her hairspray went.

Brake cleaner. Far more effective than wasp spray. Watch how quickly it kills the entire nest. Some safety glasses and a couple guys with a can each. Spray and saturate the paper and they will all die from the fumes while trying to get out.

At the end, the exterminator even says “Brake cleaner, a lot stronger than wasp spray”.

I've always used a 1:5 mix of regular Dawn dish soap & water to kill all flying insects. It smells better than gasoline. Highly toxic to them.