Huge wasp nest - help!

The nest pictured is identical with those of paper wasps hereabouts. Both wasps and hornets sting, but hornet stings are much worse.

Reply to
Don Phillipson
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Dickr wrote the following:

You did see that the nest was right outside a window? You don't need a 20' sprayer or a ladder.

Reply to
willshak

Stuff I used was called Eliminator. Worked great but don't spread the word or the EPA will ban it.

Reply to
Frank

There's no way I'm opening up that window, it's my bedroom window and I'm one of those people who likes their bedroom completely dark 24 hours a day. The bedroom windows are pretty much sealed off with a piece of fiberboard that's white on the side you see.

Lately the neighbor's kid has been volunteering to mow my lawn for a very reasonable price, next time he mows I may just stand guard over him with a can of jet spray and declare war on them if they start attacking. I think the nest was there (although I had forgotten about it) when he mowed a couple of weeks ago and they didn't bother him then. So I see no reason to "stir up a hornet's nest" as the saying goes until it's so cold they move out and I can remove the nest without worry. Like I said, they've taken up residence on the side of the house that I don't normally go around unless I'm mowing. I guess the main reason I'm apprehensive about this nest is because I've been ambushed a couple of times by yellow jackets that nest in the ground (and which are "evil incarnate" as one of the websites I was checking out put it) while mowing.

Many thanks to everyone who offered their advice, that unexco.com URL from RogerT was also very helpful.

Reply to
Dennis M

the type that lives in the ground are nasty. a few years ago I sat on their nest:( I was planning in replacing a dryer vent hood.

it was a very bad day:(

to elminate the grond type use a LONG POLE to mark the nest entrance during the day.

at night with no lights put gasoline in a bucket, follow pole to entrance hole and dump in gasoline.

no need to light it, they are dead.

straglers will hang out in area for a few days so its best to avoid the area.......... but the hive is dead

Reply to
bob haller

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I did some poking around on the Web and most people recommend after dressing accordingly by covering as much of your body as possible, wait until very late in the evening when they're all in there and feeling sluggish, spray the nest with a 25' foaming jet spray, then retreat until the next day to scrape it off.

Alternatively, one fellow says if you can wait until October after the first frost the nest will be vacant and then you can remove it with no problem. I have no small kids running around but I do mow directly underneath it and I don't know if that would provoke them or not.

Any other tips on how to deal with these unwelcome houseguests?

Is that a hornets nest?

Reply to
Martin Jensen

Don Phillipson wrote the following:

Hornets are the Al Qaida of the stinging insects. I am not allergic to insects stings, but one day a hornet stung me in the back of the calf and I fell to the ground. It was like someone hit me in the calf with a baseball bat.

Reply to
willshak

Yep! They're nasty bastards that will seek you out. Wasps are more like the French of stinging insects.

Reply to
krw

That is the STUPIDEST way to go about it, and a great way to end up in the hospital.

You aren't going to be picking them off one by one like some fantasy anti-aircraft gunner. You are DEAD MEAT if you try to fight them off. RUN.

The best way to take out a large nest is with a simple garden hose and HOT water. Adjust the nozzle for the strongest jet of water, and hose them down. Hit them hard and hit them fast, and soak the nest until it falls off the wall. The hot water scalds them and they drown.

Reply to
mkirsch1

I got about 30 stings, its was a real bad dau i took the next day off work cause I felt so bad.....

Reply to
bob haller

Wait until after dark when it cools down. They'll be asleep. Then spray the heck out of it. And run! They may be sleepy but they are probably going to be pissed off. Alternatively, you could smoke them out. Hmmm, wait, that might be for honey bees and honey combs. Anyway, good luck and don't get stung!

Jill

Reply to
jmcquown

Wasp spray, flashlight after dark.

Reply to
LilAbner

Water would be just as STUPID, you silver-tongued devil. I don't have access to HOT water in a garden hose on the outside and I doubt if many people do.

Reply to
Dennis M

Aren't most hoses rather long? Don't most inside faucets have threads that accept a garden variety garden hose adaptor? I _know_ that almost every house has a door or window.

I'm not weighing in on using hot, or HOT, water - I wouldn't (oops, I weighed), just that your nit-picking needs some other nits to pick on.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Yeah, and how long will it take before the hose is actally squirting out *hot* water?

Even then, I'm not sure the water will be hot enough to really scald (versus annoy) the wasps.

Domestic water heaters are typically set somewhere in the range 120-140 degrees F. I'm guessing here but I reckon a wasp can withstand that temperature for at least a few seconds.

Not in modern houses, IMO. Sure, it was different 40 years ago.

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

everyone has a water heater and everywater heater has a hose connection on it.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Well every washer hose is the same as a garden hose. Washers are fairly modern.

Reply to
Steve Barker

But there is only about a gallon of *hot* water there on the bottom before it runs pretty cool because that's the end that the water is replenished in. [BTDT- trying to melt some ice dams]

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

Duh, you're right.

I still have serious doubts that the water will be hot enough to kill the wasps.

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

Malcolm Hoar wrote the following:

You can get an adapter for a sink faucet that will take a garden hose connector. I have one. I hooked it to the kitchen sink faucet and screwed on the garden house to wash the Golden Retriever outside (warm water). The dog has since died, but not because of the adapter. :-)

Reply to
willshak

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