Hornets

Georgesalmon · Aug 16, 2012

Not sure if this is the right place in the forum but here goes.

Mowed my deer plot yesterday and mowed over a HUGE hornet/wasp nest. Got stung four times and still can't use my right hand for anything. Anyway, how the heck do i get rid of them? Went over to look a couple of hours later and they were buzzing around over an 8' by 10' area. Thousands of them. I was about 25' away and after a minuite or two they started coming my way so I ran to the house.

I do hunt deer but not in my back yard, this plot (about 2 acres) is in my backyard just so my grandchildren and wife can watch the deer. I don't poop where I eat so to speak. Kids really like the fawns in the spring. The bees are very near where the kids watch from.

What can I do without getting close to get them to move or DIE? Wasn't able to finish mowing either I'm to scared to go back out there! I was going to till and plant some turnips in a few places, just enough time to get them in, the deer seem to really like them young in the fall around here.

robert graham · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

Usually they go back into their nests at night and that's the time to get 'em. If they're in a hole in the ground you can pour about a quart of gasoline down the hole and that'll be the end of them! Spray carb cleaner kills wasps real quick also. Good Luck!

tx1961whaler · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

Spray it after dark. They should all be back in the nest.

Scott Danforth · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

George,

wasp and hornet spray after dark (when the queen is home). a few cans of it if the next is as big as you say. they also should be inactive at night. head out there with a flashlight and terminate them.

you can also use mountain dew with a teaspoon of dawn dish soap in a pan to catch/kill them during the day. however I like to eradicate with extreme prejudice.

Georgesalmon · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

Thanks guys. Tonight I'll be the NIGHTSTALKER !! Picked up some wasp and hornet spray yesterday and have a can of charcoal lighter I've been trying to get rid of. Raining today so no fear of starting a forest fire. I'm going to throw a piece of 2 X 4 out there so I can find it tonight. AND RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Scott Danforth · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

you cant out-run them. I would simply observe from a distance and stake 4 points equal distant around it.

be careful with the lighter fluid. even after a rain, there is probably a bunch of dry grass. would hate to hear about a wild fire in Abrams.

BoatBuoy · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

As I wrote in another similar thread, you don't need to light it. Just pour it in the hole. The vapors will do the job.

Bob_VT · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

You might have destroyed a paper nest in the brush

and they are looking for it! They will leave if the nest is gone but if there are large enough pieces they will hang arong so you have to destroy the pieces too

Be careful

Georgesalmon · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

Thought I had to light it. Thanks for the clarification. However it rained all night and still raining. The nest is on the edge of the lawn and at least 200' from the woods on the other three sides. I called my son and a couple of neighbors and they are coming over to help at 9:00 tonight. I may have mentioned beer,,,,,,,,, I think I'll light it anyway just for fun. Filling 5 gal buckets and getting rakes out, and running 3/4" hose over there. I have a burning permit. Pretty cool, you can get one on line. Thinking I want to burn about 20 X 20 since I don't know exactely where the nest is. Might not be able to even get it started with all this rain. I have a big propane torch on a 20lb bottle to. Will they come out after dark with all the comotion?

dolluper · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

I wouldn't use the flashlight unless you want to show them where you are.....there will always be a couple that come out and stay about 1 foot from nest opening .....on guard duty ....they fly out and back in.....If it's large and underground you may want 3 cans of spray.....I did one at the lake that had 4 queens in it......most of the cans can shoot about 15-20 feet.....start from that distance and move in.....wait from the queen or queens to come out and soak them really well....dusk is a good time as you can still see a bit and their not vary active

Bob_VT · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

For mosquito control years ago .....people used to spray diesel fuel on the brush areas ......not light it but put it in a sprayer and spray it down...... if that nest is scattered that might help.

Georgesalmon · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

Hmm, I have a 4000lb hot water pressure washer on big tires. Is there anyway I could use that to help me? Anything I could inject into the spray?

I thought the diesel was used to keep the mosquito's from hatching as they couldn't break the surface of water? I remember those days. Spraying oil all over the place, wow.

Keep the idea's coming.

floatingwoody2006 · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

My brother ( from the country ) had a large underground yellow jackets nest he wanted to kill off as well. After a couple of frosty courage builders, he jumps on the riding mower with the mowing deck running, managed to park it over the nest, and he took off and watched from a screen tent he set up. Though i would never endorse this kind of reckless behavior, it turned out to be one of the most comical things i have seen from afar. Screen tents although they may seem like a good idea will not stop a swarm, and hinder your mobility quite a bit should you need a quick escape. He got zapped quite a few times. Ill never to this day understand what he was thinking, but i still crack up thinking about it.

Scott Danforth · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

you mentioned beer.....

Georgesalmon · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

I did

HT32BSX115 · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

Georgesalmon said:
I did

I had a nest on my shop building about the size of someones "head"..

So I put 2 10ft pieces of 2" electrical conduit together and hooked it up to a rather powerful shop-vac.......... then I rested the tubing on a ladder and placed the end pretty close to the nest. When I bumped the nest with the tubing they all came barreling out of the nest and right into the shopvac!

When the stragglers came back, they went directly in to the vac too! The air is moving so fast that when they make the 90 degree turn into entrance of the the vac they're literally SLAMMED up against the inside of the vac so the ones that survive that don't make it much longer.

Then I just spray the nest with hornet/wasp killer and wait for a short time and start bumping the nest with the conduit. The vac then sucks ALL the nest up along with any other bees left. They don't seem to notice "man behind the curtain" about 20 feet away.

When I'm done, I remove the hose from the vac with it running and spray a little "stuff" into it.

End of story.

royal0014 · Aug 16, 2012

Re: Hornets

HT32BSX115 said:
When I'm done, I remove the hose from the vac with it running and spray a little "stuff" into it.

End of story.

Better be careful with that last part. Shop vacs in general are not spark-proof, and most 'bug' sprays use flammable propellant.........

<<)))(((>>

Georgesalmon · Aug 17, 2012

Re: Hornets

No nest I could see to do that with.

We sprayed killer, burned and then watered down the whole area to make sure no lingering sparks. Nobody stung. Was out this morning and saw no bees around. Think we might have got-em. My beer supply needs to be replaced.

HT32BSX115 · Aug 17, 2012

Re: Hornets

royal0014 said:
Better be careful with that last part. Shop vacs in general are not spark-proof, and most 'bug' sprays use flammable propellant.........

<<)))(((>>

Yeah. The sprays frequently use propane as a propellant unless you get the type that use a non flammable propellant like R-134 etc.....

I do it outside. haven't had a 'kaboom' yet!

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