A hornet's nest has established itself in a pile of branches that I want to chip up. I need someone to help me take it out, who has done this before. I can be reached at 829-8185, after 7 a.m. and before 8 p.m.
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A hornet's nest has established itself in a pile of branches that I want to chip up. I need someone to help me take it out, who has done this before. I can be reached at 829-8185, after 7 a.m. and before 8 p.m.
The two kinds I have dealt with are the paper nest builders and the ground nesting ones. The ones that nest in the ground are the mean ones, they need to be dealt with after dark, the other ones you can get them at twilight.
For the paper nest builders you need a can of the foam jet to saturate the nest and a can of flying insect killer to get them if they are flying at you.
The ground dwellers you need to be careful, they will chase you, in the day time get as close as you dare and toss something white near to locate it after dark, for them you need three cans of flying insect killer.
After dark quietly and carefully find where their hole is. There will be sentry's around the hole just inside, there may be near by holes,
when the holes accessible have one can in each hand, creep up to about 3 feet from the hole with the can
get an idea of the axis of the hole so you spray in that direction,
start spraying it at the hole and move the can to the hole with the tip of the spray inside the hole aimed down the axis, keep spraying the whole can in while keeping an eye out for any exiting a nearby hole and use the can in the other hand to to get them and then spray the whole can into that hole in the same way.
For good measure have three cans with you in case there is more than one hole, use two cans in the main hole.
the name of the spray is "flying insect killer", its not the foam.
The next day with another can of flying insect killer for insurance dig out the nest and stomp the larvae
Brutal
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Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
I'd use a vacuum....
The Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector people came to my farm and eliminated this nest.
I appreciate this important service that they offer.
How did they do it?
Only something like a Kirby will keep the wasps inside the bag. The best thing is to scope out the hole where the wasps come in and out. Then when they go to bed in the evening, carry several large containers of boiling water to the entrance and pour it all in. If you don't get them all the first night, do it again. Wear heavy clothing and pull down your hat. I've never been stung using this method. But work fast and be ready to run.
First time I hunted the ground ones I wore a coverall, welding gloves with duct tape at the sleeves, duct tape at the ankles, and a mosquito-netted baseball cap. I was way too worried. It's been a few years, but I was able to follow Thad's technique of marking it in the day (use a long stick with white tape on the end - you can lay that down from several feet away and still indicate the small hole accurately). In the dark, work fast! I had success with that lemon-based non-toxic stuff, also in a spray can. I think I had to do it a couple of different days, but I never bothered to dig up the larvae. Quite a bit later I did end up digging out the nest, since we were planting something near there. It's amazing how much of an underground complex they'd made!
BTW the lemon spray worked fine on paper nests. But so did a water spray from a high-pressure sprayer. You just need to knock them down.
As for not killing them, I don't think a wasp-relocation program would be very effective.
Erg. Kinda nasty. Here's a humane way to off the wasps/hornets that works the first time, doesn't cause suffering or injure nearby roots. Mark their entrance and go back at night with some household ammonia. Pour about a pint down the hole. End of nest. And the trees like the ammonia, no kidding!
Diane
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Posted in reply to the post by joehogan:
One needs to take care when pouring hot water down a hole. Don't know what lives there. Last spring, very early in the spring, I poured boiling water down a hole that I thought had gophers in it. The ground was still quite cold, but the day mild. To my surprise I had disturbed a nest of very large native bumble bees and, to my dismay, a few very large ones came out to see what was going on. Humbled me, the great white hunter.
Does not sound humane... not the ammonia nor the boiling water! SoreeeQuote:
Posted in reply to the post by Diane Darling:
What do you suggest?Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by gabriela:
I suggest doing research. I leave them alone and take precautions. I have lived around them and know they can be dangerous to people who are allergic to their toxin. Sting hurts..no doubt. Can they be smoked away from their nest?
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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:
You can call the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control Districthttps://www.marincounty.org/images/www_icon.png at (707) 285-2200 or (800) 231-3236. They will come to your house and remove the yellowjackets for free.
Yellowjackets are beneficial insects that prey on other insects. You can read about them here, here, or here.
The insecticide they use is commercial and toxic, please don't call them. Amonia is a natural fertilizer if you really need to off them and can't wait for the winter rains.
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Posted in reply to the post by Indiwren:
All right,
a humane version using a vacuum could go like this.
At night a small lite weight saran wrap hut goes over the hole large enough for two sides being active like with gloves in a virus containment moment and so in the morning when they start out for their day they don't go far and get softly vacuumed into a temporary containment that gets transported to Graton water treatment facility along with their nest where an experimental moment begins. The mad hornets and the dug up larvae chamber get re homed into a closed and well fed area, when the larvae start rising they only know this closed environment. But a well armored human goes into the chamber with good treats for the new critters and they identify human as not uncool.
a psycho motive effort to retool hostility
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Posted in reply to the post by Sara S:
HA HA HA wow would I love to see that on video!!
funnier than ground hog day(unless you DIE from the stings that is a possibility!)
funny how folks who haven't a clue what they are talking about talk anyway!!
but hey all good dude,the wasps are "cool " already!!
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Posted in reply to the post by Thad:
Here's a simple, inexpensive, non-toxic tactic that I have used successfully with ground nests: First, be able to find the entrance/exit hole in the ground at night. Then, wearing protective clothing, take a wide-mouthed glass gallon jar and quickly, nimbly press it down around the hole, up-side-down. Thrust it down so that the rim of the mouth gets buried around the entrance hole. If it doesn't want to penetrate subsurface, you can shore it up around the outside by packing extra dirt there. Come daylight and sunshine, they begin exiting. They bang around inside the jar all day, until they die of exhaustion and starvation. Give it a few days to be sure they all come out.
You didn't read my original post?
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Posted in reply to the post by nicofrog:
the internet is where irony, humor and subtlety go to die. Or be characatured.Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Thad:
Even though context is sometimes available, it's not always how people encounter posts. Often it's more like eavesdropping in the middle of a conversation. Fortunately it's low-stakes communication -- or should be! This isn't a medium for reliable deep exchange of information.