Unwanted guest...

[wshytle]

I was walking around sizing up a power wash for the house and discovered I had squatters. Anyone out there have a fool proof way to "uninvite" these guys? I'm not necessariliy allergic but who the hell would want to find out the punch they pack. Fire is out of the question because that's vinyl siding which would melt very fast. I'm not going to be so mad next time I find a yellowjacket nest; they're pretty easy to get rid of.

These guys are black with white or yellow stripes (ain't gettin close enough to tell) and are about 1 1/2" long.

 

[kide]

Wait till after dark, spray this long reach hornet and wasp killer

into the opening, run like he!! , keep repeating till no more activity...

 

[jbaker]

Wayne any heavy rain or high winds in the forcast they cant fly in heavy rain and wind, and with a long 2x4 knock it down and destroy it.

Ive also been told to spray it with vodka but I prefere to use that method on myself

 

[wshytle]

Thanks Gerry and Jeff-

I think I'll try the spray after dark method first. Another guy said the same thing. I'll get two cans, one for each hand simutaneously. That way I might have a chance to save and preserve it. It's a first in 26 years and there have been some doozies. The 6 foot black snake that appeared in the bathroom sink one evening while I was watching the tube was another. For some reason I had my dogs outside (3) in their pen or else they would have torn the house apart to get at him. I just caught him and took him outside never to be seen again.

Wish these darn hornets/wasps were as easy to be rid of.

 

[kide]

We burned one last year that was in a tree close to a lot of human traffic, first burnable can of spray I found was some Gibbs penetrating oil. I sprayed most of a can on it before I remembered I payed $11.00 a can for the stuff..

 

[lhinds]

Wayne take a 8 or 10 foot pole or 2x4 and wrap a cloth around it and soak with diesel fuel, and put it several feet from the nest. After dark lite the fuel and they will dive at it and burn thier wings off. After they are gone spray the nest with wasp killer and they are gone. This works for me.

 

[kphill]

Wayne, If that is vinyl siding on your house, It does not like being sprayed with wasp or hornet spray as it does some nasty stuff to it. I would wait till dark, knock it to the ground with a long piece of wood, and spray it as soon as it hits the ground..

 

[kide]

The way that's attached to the house, it'll break apart if he tries to knock it off <font size="-2">(voice of experience)</font>. They will come out pi$$ed off then!! . You are right that some sprays can damage vinyl - best to test it on someplace not visible, if you think there might be a problem. I've not had any problems on aluminum, but still good point!

 

[wshytle]

Kevin-

If you'll come over I have a nice piece of wood you can try while I wait in the house. I'm not about to hit that d**n thing night or day. A friend emailed me and said it was probably bald face hornets. Please don't be offended because if that method works for you then wonderful.

Luther-

I like your idea. It seems to have the least risks and might be fun to actually witness a kamakazee (sp) type resolution. I guess I should have some spray available to finish them off when they hit the ground.

If I do any spraying on the vinyl I have a hose close by to rinse what I can. This will be done after all hornets have made other plans.

Thanks for all of the input guys.....Wayne

 

[kphill]

Wayne, If I lived nearby, and the conditions were right, I might give it a try. But then again I can run really fast when I have to..Maybe you need to have the local pest control people give you a price to remove it..

 

[jbaker]

Wayne I see you have thunder storms in the forecast, I am speaking with excperience when its raining nice and hard put on the rain coat and push it off the house to the ground with a 2x4 or something similar and then spray it if you want.

Ive done this several times they cant fly in heavy rain or high winds

 

[wshytle]

Kevin-

I don't have the speed I had a few years back. They'd kill me. I can't afford "the guy" so I'll end up doing something myself.

Jeff-

The storms we're having aren't. In other words, they're sort of hit and miss type storms and have been just south or just north of the "triangle" which is close to me. The temperature today was 103*. It's been in the mid to upper 90s for a couple of weeks now so a storm should be in the making.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, yep those would be bald face hornets. Bald face hornets are nasty things! They will come out after you even if all you do is walk past that nest. We had to take care of a nest that was 17" tall that was on a wood property line fence a few years back. We waited until dark and sprayed it with wasp/hornet spray. End of hornets. I like Luther's method.

At my work last summer we had some wasps we had to get rid of and we used this stuff, bought it locally it's supposed to be safe for vinyl siding:

WASP SPRAY

What ever you do be careful and good luck!

 

[wshytle]

Thanks Kraig-

I haven't done a thing yet but I don't like hearing they will attack someone just walking by. I actually sprayed some cub parts yesterday pretty close without incident but plan to just stay away until the big plan. I will probably go with Luthers idea at first and have some spray to finish things off. They don't scare me and I'm not allergic but they have more respect than they will ever know. I checked out the spray you mentioned and they are out of stock. The can says "poison free" but I bet the hornets don't agree.

Thanks again to everyone with input and I'll keep yall posted; it just might take a while.

 

[wshytle]

Well, it's time for "plan 2".

I tried the fire and the hornets seemed to enjoy the light show. I set it up about 5 feet from the nest and it burned for a good 20 minutes. Some came out but I never saw one fly into the light/fire. It did fool a couple of moths though. It's time for chemicals.

 

[aaytay]

Wayne-
One word of caution before you use "chemicals"...

A number of years ago we had a section of our aluminum soffit pop out of the track from a strong storm. It got pushed UPWARD and left a gap that wasps immediately took up as "home".

As luck would have it, this new wasp home was at the highest portion of the house. Right above the back "walk-out" section, 2 stories high.

I borrowed a friend's L-O-N-G extension ladder, grabbed a cheap can of "wasp be gone" and climbed up the ladder. As I got to the top (man, that was HIGH up there!) I realized that I'd have to be just below the nest, shooting the wasp-killer through the rungs of the ladder, up into the soffit opening.

My palms are beginning to sweat, my legs are starting to quiver, so I figured I'd better "git er done" as quickly as possible, so I point the can and shoot...

Unknown to me, there was a small sliver of plastic on the spray head of the can hanging directly in front of the nozzle that was somehow a remnant of the manufacturing process. Instead of a nice solid "jet" of chemical that was supposed to hit the nest, I got a fog of fine mist that CAME BACK AT ME! In the last nano-second of spray, the plastic sliver dislodged and a small part of chemical hit the nest, but by that time my aim was all off as I was in a chemical soup-cloud that was burning my eyes and lungs. When the last bit of chemical-jet tapped the nest, 100's of wasps came out to see WHO was there!

Picture me trying to quickly climb back down the ladder with a nest full of wasps buzzing around my head all of the while, choking and gasping for air...

Needless to say, I ALWAYS check the condiditon of the spray-can nozzle before climbing a ladder!

 

[wshytle]

Art-

Even in my younger days I wouldn't attempt this job from a ladder. Your head is the first thing they would come to I would think. I was "very concerned" last night as I approached with the torch. It was dusk and they could still see me well. I didn't light it until it got dark and even that made my heart race. I didn't mention it last post but I also stood in the shadows several yards away and shot the nest with a bb gun I have. It isn't powerful at all but I wanted to make sure everyone stuck their head out to see the light. I also halled butt after the third shot. I could watch from the window (inside) directly below the nest but there never was a swarm.

I'm going to give them a couple of days to settle down in case they have memory. Then I will get two cans of something with the longest shooting range. The nest has a well defined hole so I'll put one can right on it until empty then unload the second can the same way. After halling butt again and waiting a couple hours I hope to be able to wash the siding or at least rinse it down. I'd hate to go out the next day to find melted or distorted vinyl.

Why couldn't this just be a yellowjacket nest? I've been stung by them numerous times through the years; I have no idea how bad a baldface sting is nor do I want to find out....hadn't BTDT....yet.

 

[wshytle]

Here's a pic from the head of my bed. It's pretty close. How would you sleep at night?



BTW Art, I always shoot the can before actually using it first. It's mainly to familiarize myself with what I have. I have attempted this sort of thing and had a dud. It wasn't as bad as your outcome but I was also faster at halling butt then too.

It's fuzzy shooting through the screen

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, one of my sisters has a log home, about 10 years back I was helping my brother in law move a couple of folding tables that they were storing from their lower level up to their garage. With the first table as we passed an area I felt something hit the top of my head. Their house is built into a wooded slope and I figured it was just something that fell from a tree. With the second table I felt the same thing, something hitting me on the top of my head only this time it was quickly followed by a sting. YEEEOUCH! After we got out of there we went inside the house and looked out the window to see if we could find any sign of a nest. What we saw was a swarm of bald face hornets. Turns out they had built a nest inside the logs where they found a small gap. They were about 10' above where we were walking. We did not do anything to disturb their nest other than walk by. My BIL spent a couple days observing them to see exactly where they were exiting and entering their nest. Once he was sure of the entry location and that there was only one location he waited until evening and thoroughly sprayed the entry. That took care of them. Thankfully I'm not allergic to bee stings, doesn't mean I ever want to be stung by another bald face hornet.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, here's a thread that might interest you on a related subject.

BEES ANYONE...