Hornet Problem

Al_wat

So I found a hornet's (or maybe wasp?) nest in my backyard. I noticed a whole bunch of them flying in between the cracks of some rocks which form a little wall going around a garden, and flying out carrying bits of dirt. They've definitely got an underground nest through there.

While I thought it was kinda cool at first I knew I would eventually have to do something about it. It's right next to my pool and what just clinched it for me was seeing my dog get stung.

THIS. MEANS. WAR!!!


Whats the best way to deal with this? Just get some spray and unleash it down the hole? Is there some kind of poison I can put in the entrance?

I want to not get stung myself, and also not have to spend giant amounts of money.

THEPAIN73

Gasoline and fire might do it.

Would wearing super thick clothes protect against hornets if say you were to dig up the nest?

Al_wat

something like gasoline wouldn't really work here. The nest entrance is horizontal - I can't really pour anything down there.


I'd also rather not dig it up... but yeah I guess thick clothing would work. I'd have to cover my entire head and face too.

THEPAIN73

Is the nest pretty new?

Sipex

There were plenty of nest removal solutions in another thread, give it time, they'll pop up again

Al_wat

not sure how new it is. I noticed it maybe 1 week ago, but theres no telling how long its been there.

physi_marc

Whatever you do, do it at sunset. Hornets and wasps get lethargic at night and it will be much safer for you.

khain

You should be able to go to any hardware store and buy a bottle of Raid or whatever brand of spray you want that will easily kill them.

Diorinix

I am not a pest-control expert, but I seem to recall that when dealing with stinging insects like hornets, wasps, or bees, smoke (either real or artficial) puts them to sleep so you can inject the chemicals necessary to kill the nest.

If it's a large nest and you don't want to risk getting swarmed, call your local exterminator. Professionals be professional, yo.

Limp moose

Be very careful no matter what you do.

Smoke induces a feed response in most bee's (are you sure these are wasps, hornets, whatever? There are like 50000 different type of bee like creature species.) It causes them to be docile and feed because they assume the hive/forest is on fire and they need to store up energy in case it all gets burned up.

What this means for you is really nothing. Unless you happen to have a bee smoker around you are going to be hard pressed to get enough smoke to calm the wasps. Plus going in and destroying a hive is going to piss them off smoke or no smoke.

When dealing with these types of insects thick clothing will protect your body but the area's you should really be worried about are your hands and face. These locations if stung will swell up more than normal. And be especially painful. (no kidding stings on your eye lids hurt!) Second. Just a few stings say any more than a dozen can cause an allergic reaction even if you previously had no allergies. Any more than say 2 or 3 dozen can be deadly. Getting swarmed can be hazardous to your health.

Wasps unlike bees can sting multiple times. Bees on the other hand when they sting you leave the stinger implanted not only injecting venom until removed or drained. But the ripped out stinger releases a pheromone which pisses all the other bees off. And will incite swarm behavior.

Now that you know kind of what you are up against it might be a good idea to call a pro. If it is a small nest that you think you can kill yourself, Wasp foam poison can take it out and then you could go in and remove it with a shovel or hand tool and dispose of it. Anything bigger than a soccer ball size is not something you want to mess with, without proper gear.

Since you said it was underground i recommend the wasp poison give it an afternoon to take effect. Come back in the evening and spray it again. This gives all the wasps that were gone when you hit it the first time a chance to come home and clear the dead wasps out making room for shot number 2. Then the following morning spray one more time and remove. Make sure you get all of it. If you miss the queen and she lives she can lay thousands of eggs and repopulate/rebuild the nest. The queen tends to live deep inside so a spray would probably not penetrate all the way.

I hope this helps. If they are indeed not wasps but honey bees you should leave them alone.

CycloneRanger

If they are actual hornets you should probably just ignore them; the species we have in North America are harmless and really docile.

More likely you've got a bunch of yellow jackets, which (in addition to being my school mascot; yay for that I guess) are very aggressive as far as wasps go. That probably explains why your dog got stung; dogs can be pretty dumb and yellow jackets are easy to provoke if you harass them.

I can't really give you any advice on getting rid of them as I've never felt the need to, but as far as identification goes here's a pic of a yellow jacket:

...and here's a picture of the European Hornet (which is what you've probably got in NA):

The easiest way to tell them apart, though, is probably size. Hornets are 1-1.4 inches long (seriously, they are way larger than you'd expect a flying insect to be). Yellow jackets are much smaller.

The Ender

Limp moose wrote: »

Be very careful no matter what you do.

Smoke induces a feed response in most bee's (are you sure these are wasps, hornets, whatever? There are like 50000 different type of bee like creature species.) It causes them to be docile and feed because they assume the hive/forest is on fire and they need to store up energy in case it all gets burned up.

What this means for you is really nothing. Unless you happen to have a bee smoker around you are going to be hard pressed to get enough smoke to calm the wasps. Plus going in and destroying a hive is going to piss them off smoke or no smoke.

When dealing with these types of insects thick clothing will protect your body but the area's you should really be worried about are your hands and face. These locations if stung will swell up more than normal. And be especially painful. (no kidding stings on your eye lids hurt!) Second. Just a few stings say any more than a dozen can cause an allergic reaction even if you previously had no allergies. Any more than say 2 or 3 dozen can be deadly. Getting swarmed can be hazardous to your health.

Wasps unlike bees can sting multiple times. Bees on the other hand when they sting you leave the stinger implanted not only injecting venom until removed or drained. But the ripped out stinger releases a pheromone which pisses all the other bees off. And will incite swarm behavior.

Now that you know kind of what you are up against it might be a good idea to call a pro. If it is a small nest that you think you can kill yourself, Wasp foam poison can take it out and then you could go in and remove it with a shovel or hand tool and dispose of it. Anything bigger than a soccer ball size is not something you want to mess with, without proper gear.

Since you said it was underground i recommend the wasp poison give it an afternoon to take effect. Come back in the evening and spray it again. This gives all the wasps that were gone when you hit it the first time a chance to come home and clear the dead wasps out making room for shot number 2. Then the following morning spray one more time and remove. Make sure you get all of it. If you miss the queen and she lives she can lay thousands of eggs and repopulate/rebuild the nest. The queen tends to live deep inside so a spray would probably not penetrate all the way.

I hope this helps. If they are indeed not wasps but honey bees you should leave them alone.

If you're not sure how large the nest is, don't attempt to destroy it on your own. A lot of people don't take bee/ wasp / hornet venom seriously enough - if they swarm you, the worst that can happen is they that inject enough poison to cause cardiac arrest and you end-up dead over something that could've been either safely co-existed with or safely eliminated by a professional.

If you're confident it's a small nest and decide to attack it, don't just spray it with an insecticide aerosol. You'll likely just kill the drones, which will do nothing for you. If you want an immediate solution, get a spray-on foam; you'll have to spray the foam directly into the entrance of the hive, which is a risky thing to do any way you slice it unless you've got proper protective clothing (heavy gloves, goggles, a face mask, etc). You'll probably get stung a couple of times.

Also, I want to echo the words of Pest Control Canada:

Unless wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets become a threat we urge you to leave them alone. They play an important role in the ecological balance of your backyard, neighborhood and local community.

Al_wat

they are definitely yellow jackets.

edit: and they are a nuisance. They are going. Its right next to the swim ladder on my pool.

adytum

I'm pretty sure they've got honey in their nest. Have you tried smoking them out?

JaysonFour

Yellowjackets don't make honey- they're more after sugary stuff they can eat, like soda, old rotting fruit, and the like. They also collect meat (to feed to the developing larvae), and that's why they love to swarm picnics.

I'd just call a professional to kill/relocate them. You don't know how big the nest is, so you could be walking into a situation where you get your silly goose's ass stung multiple times by pissed-off insects that have the means to severely injure/kill you if enough get after you.

CycloneRanger

JaysonFour wrote: »

Yellowjackets don't make honey- they're more after sugary stuff they can eat, like soda, old rotting fruit, and the like. They also collect meat (to feed to the developing larvae), and that's why they love to swarm picnics.

Yep. When I was a little kid, I remember eating outside one evening and seeing a yellow jacket land on the edge of my plate and start eating a tiny flake of salmon. I thought that was pretty awesome so I let her have it.

Demerdar

I say go for it with some of the methods people have been suggesting.

If shit starts to go downhill, just dive into your pool :^:

Zenitram

I live in the country and I find yellow jacket nests everywhere: under the hood of my car, underneath my bike seat, about 50 under my gutters every year, etc. Chances are it looks something like this:



They can and do get more serious than that, but here's my strategy. Go and buy a can of Raid made for bees that shoots a long stream of poison. Carefully go at night and check out their entry hole, see if you can see exactly where the nest is and how big it is. Don't be too worried about disturbing them. They are super lazy at night but will rouse if roused, however you will hear them before you see them so be prepared to run on sight.

If you can see their nest, shoot straight at it with the spray, then shoot the entry/exit point. The stuff is brutal and instantly sends them into convulsions, and will do so for any bees that come in contact with it many hours later.

If you are not allergic then there is really not much to worry about at night. If you are bold then you may get stung, but again it's not the end of the world. I do this so often it has become a game, I even do it in the middle of the summer day. I have not been stung in many years because I am careful, the key is to listen and be alert for any rustling you may hear or see.

Have an exit strategy thought out and a path cleared. Sounds like the pool works in case of Bee Mile Island meltdown (sorry!)

edit: it sounds like the nest might be inaccessible, so just blase the shit out of that crack with the raid when they are all sleeping.

Arrath

As far as protecting yourself, last time I had to knock a (big) nest off of my roof I wore long underwear, a t-shirt, pjama type pants, sweatpants, a sweater, then a one piece jumpsuit like a mechanic would wear, rubber boots that were duct taped around the cuff, and glove that were also duct taped around the cuff. For the face I wore two balaclavas, goggles, and a facemask.

Yeah, maybe overboard. But it was a large nest and they got really, really pissed off. Made it out without a sting!