Unwanted guest...

[aaytay]

Kraig-
At this point I'm going to resist the urge to comment about you being stung in the head by a "bald face" hornet....

 

[kmcconaughey]

Art, rather fitting isn't it...

 

[kide]

Wayne:
I rigged a remote hinged "thumb" made from a wine cork on the end of a 16' pole that pushed down on the valve on the wasp spray. I just used a piece of line as long as the pole hooked to the "thumb".. A big hose clamp fastens the can to the pole. I'll see if I can post a pic or two later....

 

[aaytay]

Kendall-
I'd be intersted in seeing pics of that!

 

[aschumacher]

Mr Aytay...Mr Ide is traveling incognito lately. He's now known as Gerry...dont cha know. Too many people were tracking him down so they could steal his fire wood pile!

 

[kide]

Remember - this was a "right now" project - I had Wasps in a mercury yard light housing that was too high to shoot from the ground - no kibitzing about quality of construction here, please.

The stock is steel shelving channel

Tie enough line (I used some 18 gauge insulated wire, but whatever...) to reach the end of the pole you put it on

Clamp this assembly on a pole - I used a piece of 1 1/4 aluminum tubing from an old CB antenna

If you need to shoot up, rather than sideways, bend a piece of tubing to fit over the nozzle.. Body from a BIC pen, heated and bent worked for me..

Allen - call me anything , just not late to supper

 

[wshytle]

Gerry-

I don't think I need to get that "high tech". The nest is only about 9 feet off the ground so if the stuff is suppose to shoot 15 or 20 feet I can stand flat footed and hit it. I'm just concerned about the one or two that might get by the spray and find me.

I want to make sure and kill them all in case they are born with a form of GPS in their genes. In other words, I don't want to do this ever again. It's never happened in the 26 years I've been here. I remember looking for these nests on river banks in the winter while float hunting/fishing as a younger man. I would let this one just play out and take it down this winter but like I said, no returns welcome.

 

[kide]

Wayne:
The thing I liked about the situation I had last summer (big nest like yours) is I was able to deliver 100% right where I wanted it without having to get close. That spray can in the picture sez it'll shoot 27 feet, but to tell you the truth it's kind of like trying to p.ss into a tin cup 20 feet away...

 

[aschumacher]

Gerry I'm not going to kibitz about your construction...but if one were to look up the word 'jerry-rig' one would find that it means a quick, haphazard construction/repair,that is functional for the need intended. Well done Gerry-rigger.

PS: It is also referred to as a McGuiver..
PPS: a 20' cup...doesnt allow for much cross wind does it ! ? ?

 

[wshytle]

Allen-

Good observation!

 

[bseverns]

I have been reading this thread and was wondering what a CO2 fire extinguisher would do to a nest like the one in question. Would the coldness slow them (the hornets) down to where you could just knock the nest down?

 

[lhinds]

Wayne; Must be a different kind of hornet than i have here. I have a black hornet and a large yellow hornet. they both will fight the fire.
Sorry about the mis information.

 

[wshytle]

No problem Luther. It was fun anyhow. I was just hoping for a suicide show. I plan to get the spray and do what I probably should have done from the git-go.

It did work on a couple of moths and some of the hornets came out and lit on the side of the house. I guess they were watching the fire to see if it posed any threat.

Does anyone know whether the baldface community has a queen inside with the workers seeing to her every need like honey bees and humans?

 

[kide]

Wayne:
read the "life cycle" para. here ...

 

[wshytle]

Thanks Gerry-

That is very educational. The way I read it another bunch of women have come into my life to give me grief. The males, or drones, can't sting and come from unfertilized eggs....? It's the female of the species that work and protect the nest. Another interesting point is they are nothing more than big, black yellowjackets that apparently can get the same attitude.

I went out today to find some spray but I have a caliper freezing up on the truck so I came on back home. I was able to get a thermostat for my car because it has been heating up for no apparent reason. I'm hoping the old thermostat has just been sticking.

All of this is happening in mid to upper 90s type weather too. When it rains it pours.

Thanks again.

 

[kide]

"another bunch of women have come into my life to give me grief" ...

 

[digger]

Ya know,
I've been reading this thread for a while and it's really not that complicated guys. LOL
Day one, wait till after dark. Put the ladder within easy reach of the hole/nest.
Day two, take 2 pieces of duct tape overlapped a 1/2" about 8 or so inches long depending on how large the nest is.
Cut a 1/4" slit in the middle of the tape.
After dark, the later the better.
Climb ladder, stick tape over nest hole.
Climb down the ladder and get the hornet spray that shoots 20+ feet and one of those straws that's hiding under the front seat of your car, cut off about 2" or buy the spray with the built in straw attached and climb back up the ladder.
Empty the can through the slit and climb back down the ladder and go to bed.
Day 3, climb back up the ladder and listen for a buzz. If there is none, remove the next. If there is, shoot'um one more time. BTDT many times. Works like a charm.

 

[ljones]

I would take a high powerd airsoft or paintball gun and shoot it down if it wasent on the house you could use a

or

 

[kide]

Charlie:
Must be the Minnesota hornets are more laid back than the Michigan ones....Day two would be an adventure here - I've checked 'em at midnight and seen "guards" outside the nest...

 

[aschumacher]

I understand that engine starting ether will get them really loopey...