Killing hornets

Forums: Insects, Hornets, Pest, Hornet, Pesticide
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I have a hornet nest in a old stump in my yard.

Mo was stung several time, once requiring a doctor visit. The hornets have to go.

We've used 6 cans of hornet spray trying to get rid of them even though I hate using poison in my yard.

We still have hornets.

I suppose they have burrowed down into the ground and the spray isn't reaching them but it seems that entering and exiting the nest would eventually eliminate them.

How do I get rid of these pests?

Thanks!

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Gas...but that's not very safe.

If you spray them with soapy water they can't fly....they fall instantly....poor mans wasp spray....so I'd try pouring an entire bottle of dishwashing liquid down the hole....that will gum them up, and won't hurt anything else.

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I recently saw an article with a headline that suggested that mint oil would kill wasps, and presumeably hornets. Didn't read it, though. Still, with hornets or wasps, it's not good to shoot and miss.

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@roger,

I've no experience with hornets, so this may be alarmist - or not..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet

Alarm escalation

Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans. The hornet alarm pheromone is used to raise alarm of nest attack, and to identify prey, for example bees.[5] It is not advisable to kill a hornet anywhere near a nest, as the distress signal can trigger the entire nest to attack. Materials that come in contact with pheromone, such as clothes, skin, dead prey or hornets, must be removed from the vicinity of the hornets nest. Perfumes, and other volatile chemicals can be falsely identified as pheromone by the hornets and trigger attack.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

I have a hornet nest in a old stump in my yard.

Mo was stung several time, once requiring a doctor visit. The hornets have to go.

We've used 6 cans of hornet spray trying to get rid of them even though I hate using poison in my yard.

We still have hornets.

I suppose they have burrowed down into the ground and the spray isn't reaching them but it seems that entering and exiting the nest would eventually eliminate them.

How do I get rid of these pests?

Thanks!

Gasoline and a match, and a fire extinguisher. Yup. Anyway, that's how my pop always got rid of them.

Same with fire ants. He'd pour it on, light 'er up and then stand there and salute the brave bastards.

Cycloptichorn

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@boomerang,

you wait until night when theyre all in their ground nests. Pour a nice amount of gasoline into the nest area and immediately light it off. The sound of toasting hornets will shortly follow.

If you need another application, wait till the next night and repeat. When its done, dig and aerate the area so the gas will volatilize completely.

Why does your kid keep going back and getting stung?

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@farmerman,

Why do your dogs keep chasing skunks?

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@boomerang,

Are you sure they are hornets? The nest sounds a lot more like one Yellow Jackets would make. I'd recommend calling the pros, and using a liquid (not spray) that will seep down into the ground.

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@boomerang,

Welcome back, boomer. I'm with Craven/Robert on this one. I believe what you have might be yellow jackets. Can you find a picture that resembles them on the net?

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@Letty,

Letty wrote:

...Craven/Robert...

Still not used to my real name eh? ;-)

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@roger,

Quote:

Why do your dogs keep chasing skunks?

UHH, maybe you wanna think that over before you waste perfectly good bytes

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Yikes! Gas and fire! I don't know. This nest in under a hedge and close to the house. Maybe I'll try the dish soap first -- I have some Dr. Bonner's peppermint soap. I'll pour some of that around.

That's interesting, osso. The hornets leave me and the pets alone but they seem to adore Mo. Maybe his helmet and scooter have pheremones on them or something and that's why he keeps getting stung.

He has been stung on two occassions but that amounts to about four stings. The first time was three stings on his hand, which swelled up to unbelivable proportions; the next time was once, right under his eye. That's the one that freaked him out.

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You know, I'm not positive they're hornets. Someone told me that they're hornets but maybe they are yellow jackets and that's why the can after can of poison isn't working.

I've seen yellow jacket traps. Do those work at all?

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@boomerang,

They work well to reduce them but I think it's unlikely that they can eliminate them all. You can make your own fairly easily. Just takes some liquid dish soap (unscented) in a dish/container with a piece of meat/fish hanging over it.

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Can you see the hole they are flying in and out of? If so, wait until dusk, get a nice size rock and another can of spray. Spray directly into the hole and throw the rock on top so they can't escape. If they are in the stump you might need to throw a large garbage bag over it to trap them. I agree that they are yellow jacks, but hornet spray should work. They do burrow deep sometimes and you have turn their nest into a gas chamber to really get all of them. If this doesn't work I think you should get a professional. Please don't do the gasoline thing - you will look funny without your eyebrows.

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@Cycloptichorn,

The fire extinguisher is key. A neighbor of mine when I was a kid did this and ended up setting his tree on fire. As he was trying to put it, some one else called the fire department - he didn't want to get into trouble so he ran into his house and pretended like he didn't have a clue (which wasn't entirely false).

It was great entertainment for me.

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We used two more cans of spray - one last night and one this morning and still there are hornets/yellow jackets/whatever. I can't hardly get Mo to go outside and that's really and truly bizarre -- he is an outside kid.

I'm trying the dish soap/meat combo today to see if I can trap some of them.

I can see the hole that they are using as an entrance but I'm not sure if I can find a rock that will effectively cover it -- it's kind of up the side of the stump.

What about dirt? Could I try covering it up with dirt and then placing a rock on it. Would they just dig through the dirt?

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

We used two more cans of spray - one last night and one this morning and still there are hornets/yellow jackets/whatever. I can't hardly get Mo to go outside and that's really and truly bizarre -- he is an outside kid.

I'm trying the dish soap/meat combo today to see if I can trap some of them.

I can see the hole that they are using as an entrance but I'm not sure if I can find a rock that will effectively cover it -- it's kind of up the side of the stump.

What about dirt? Could I try covering it up with dirt and then placing a rock on it. Would they just dig through the dirt?

Probably. They certainly aren't just going to give up and die on their own.

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

Yeah they will dig through the dirt. Those things are mean. Just a couple of weeks ago I was at the Y outdoor pool, sitting on one of the lounge chairs minding my own business and one of those yellow jackets flew below the chair and stung me on my butt. Yup on my butt. It hurt like the dickens (assuming I know how dickens hurt). But I couldn't go to the first aide to get any medicine or stuff to put on it because I didn't want to show them my butt.

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BB gun at 25m.

Take em out one at a time.

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Killing hornets

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