They are nasty little dudes!
We had a huge BFH nest in our front yard. I called an exterminator to
handle the honors. I helped them (two guys came out), it was quite the
learning experience.
The guys came at 11 at night. Got a ladder set right under the nest (about
10 feet off the ground). I held the flashlight on the bottom of the nest,
where 3 sentries were standing guard. They didn't move whatsoever due to
the light or our presence. He zapped them with the spray and they dropped.
Immediately, he shoved the nozzle extension into the nest hole and began
saturating the inside of the nest. You could actually hear the buzzing
growing within the nest! He then removed the nozzle from the bottom hole,
and shoved it horizontally into the middle of the nest and began spraying
again. The nest quickly went silent. They cut the small branch and dropped
the nest into a garbage bag.
Glad I called the pro's to handle it.
Bald Faced Hornet
Summary: Bald faced hornets can be very aggressive if their nest is approached. When removing the bald faced hornet nest it is strongly advised to wear protective clothing and to attempt the removal of the nest only at night when the hornets are at rest.
Rebecca B; St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada asks: My pussy willow tree has a wasp or bee nest. The wasps look like yellow jackets, but they are black with white rings. What are they and how can I get rid of them?
Dear Rebecca: You are most likely looking at a Bald Faced Hornet nest. I'm going to assume you want to remove the nest from the willow tree, so here are some tips for your adventure.
Tip number one: Nest removal should only be done at night when the hornets are all tucked in for the night. And, I don't mean you should do it when the sun is about to set. I mean it needs to be total darkness or you are in for a fight.
Tip number two: Make sure you can easily reach the entry hole of the nest. You'll need a can or two of wasp killer such as Wasp Freeze, which you can purchase from most hardware stores. Wasp Freeze shoots a steady stream of "knock down" insecticide from more than fifteen feet away from your target. Have both cans ready to go. You don't want to run short and have to run around searching for the second can.
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Turn a flashlight on the nest and you will see a couple of "guard" hornets. Thoroughly shoot the outside of the nest then immediately start shooting directly into the entry hole. You'll have to move in pretty close to the nest to really get the Wasp Freeze to saturate. By this time your heart should really be pumping.
Tip number three: Don't stand there looking at your handiwork. Turn off your flashlight and run for cover. Don't come back until the next morning to see if the nest still has activity. Even if you don't see anything, shoot the nest again. New hornets could have hatched overnight.
Once you have confirmed that the nest is inactive you can cut down the branch and put it into a plastic garbage bag for disposal.
Pest control professionals will do these types of jobs wearing full bee suits that can be purchased on the web for about seventy dollars. It is definitely the safe way to do this.
Tip number four: Ignore everything you learned in tips one through three and pick up your phone and call a professional to do the job.
Comments
Rich
26 May 2009, 00:03
26 May 2009, 00:03
Krista
27 Jun 2009, 22:44
27 Jun 2009, 22:44
My husband and I were helping a friend remove some old branches from the
back of his garage today. The area I was working on was sparsely covered in
some sort of a tall grass. Since it was easy to pull out by the roots, I
started doing so - until I got stung on my leg over and over again. I got
inside the house, treated the stings and waited for activity to calm down.
After about half an hour, I decided to try agin. Big mistake! This time I
was stung at least 9 times on my arm and another time on my leg. They
chased me all through the yard and into the front yard. My husband ended
up with 3 stings just below his eye and he was at least 20 feet from the
nest!
Here's the thing...he got a better look at the hateful little things than I did, but we agree that they looked more like the bald-faced hornet than a regular yellow jacket. However, it appears that the nest is underground with the entrance under some grass clippings. Is this possible? I'm still trying to convince my friend to just get an exterminator because either one sounds like a real pain to get rid of!
Here's the thing...he got a better look at the hateful little things than I did, but we agree that they looked more like the bald-faced hornet than a regular yellow jacket. However, it appears that the nest is underground with the entrance under some grass clippings. Is this possible? I'm still trying to convince my friend to just get an exterminator because either one sounds like a real pain to get rid of!
jolie fitchett
09 Aug 2009, 23:25
09 Aug 2009, 23:25
We have baldfaced hornets inside the trunk and branch of our willow tree.
They are inside;the tree. What can we do? There is no nest in site just
lots of bees and you can see where the go into the tree itself. Any tips or
help appreciated. thanks jolie
Got Hornets in NY
02 Oct 2009, 03:03
02 Oct 2009, 03:03
I have to kill them fairly frequently, and have developed a good method (so
far). It takes two people, each with a can of long-distance hornet spray
to do it safely. Wait til night, one person stands to each side of the
nest (way far away), and you put a very bright light between them facing
the nest. Start spraying like crazy and continue until the nest is
saturated. If any hornets get out they will attack the light, not you.
Anyway, works well for NY hornets :).
anotherjustin
05 Oct 2009, 17:44
05 Oct 2009, 17:44
I'm hiding out at this very moment from those guys. They have a basketball
sized nest about ten feet from my front door. I've left them alone all
summer, since they weren't bothering us, but I was doing some work out
there this morning and dropped something, when they all started that
swarming thing. We have this pinwheel thingy close to where they built the
nest and the wind was blowing, so luckily the hundred or so that came out
assumed that was what was attacking and went after it with gusto. Then my
dogs decided to see what all the (literal) buzz was about. That's when
things got hairy. The attention was shifted to my three dogs and you can
guess what happened. I ran through the fray into my front door and the dogs
were right behind, not to mention a few of those little angry things. The
dogs got a few stings, but I escaped injury. Better them than me. A can of
Raid straight into the entrance and then all over the outside of the nest
seemed to put them in their place. I guess after reading this I should have
waited until dark, but I suppose I got lucky. Good luck to anyone else, and
be careful.