Paper Wasps

[John K Jordan]

Jim...the nests I am talking about were often over 12" sometimes as large as 2' in diameter. I seriously wouldn't have wanted to try to attack one of those nests with the commercially available spray cans of pesticides sold today. ...

I had a white-faced hornets nest that big, attached to an old satellite TV dish I didn't take down. I used the cans of wasp/hornet spray on it. However, I did it this way: wait until after dark and wear a full bee suit. Worked fine and no stings were acquired.

JKJ

[Jim Koepke]

wait until after dark

Just like the directions say, smart thinking.

BTW, that is also my way of doing it without the bee suit.

jtk

[Ken Fitzgerald]

BTW...that is the way I do it too, after dark,without the bee suit.

However, the nests I see around my home in Idaho are no where nearly as big as what I experienced in Mississippi!

[Lee Schierer]

I found this one in the woods behind my house last fall. It was at least 24" tall and 16-18" in diameter. I didn't think accurate measurements were prudent.
20151002_104035.jpg

[Ronald Blue]

I have tried the wasp traps that want you to put bait in the trap where the insects are supposed to enter and not find their way out. They seem to work very inefficiently for wasps and yellow jackets. I have had better success with the yellow "stick-um" traps where the insects are drawn to the yellow&green sticky surfaces and get attached.

For existing nests, I find that spray works best. While station at NAS Meridian, MS we used to find HUGE wasp nests attached to the GCA radar trailers and they became a problem when we had to rotate or move the radar due to runway changes. I was shown how gasoline thrown on the nest will kill them. The evaporation rate of gas is quick enough that the wasps fall to the ground and are dead from hypothermia before landing.

Ken, are you sure they didn't just run out of gas? Had to ask.
I have had good luck with the wasp and hornet spray as well. While we have paper wasps have also had issues with hornets building in less than ideal locations. Had a nest started right in the walk-in door of my shop. I'm lucky I didn't get stung. First couple times I didn't realize they were there. Once I hit it with spray and knocked the nest down that was the end of it.

[Al Launier]

I found this one in the woods behind my house last fall. It was at least 24" tall and 16-18" in diameter. I didn't think accurate measurements were prudent.
20151002_104035.jpg

Wow! That one must have been scary. So what did you do to destroy that nest & its inhabitants, flame thrower?

[John K Jordan]

I found this one in the woods behind my house last fall. It was at least 24" tall and 16-18" in diameter. I didn't think accurate measurements were prudent.
20151002_104035.jpg

If it's not too high off the ground you can get it with big plastic garbage bag (I use the heavy duty contractor size). Slide the bag up over the nest (at night, of course), cut the branches close, and squeeze the top closed. The hornets inside do get a bit mad but can't sting through the plastic. Then spray a little chemical of choice into the opening, cinch tight, and wait a bit.

A fascinating thing to do with one of those (after the insects have been dispached) is cut it in two vertically, right through the entrance hole. That will display all the layers and internal structure.

BTW, for an occasional sting I've been using these for years, hands down the best sting treatment ever: The Extractor. Available in the camping section in Walmart, Amazon, elsewhere.

Attachment 387573

Forget anything you put on the skin after the sting. Push down on the plunger and it creates a strong suction which pulls the venom out of the skin before it can cause a problem. I'll tell you how good it is: yellowjacket stings always cause me great trauma - one on the back of my hand once caused my entire hand and arm to swell up all the way to my shoulder. If I use this thing quick enough I get zero swelling and just a small red spot maybe the size of a quarter. Used on stings bees, hornets, wasps, etc. it almost always takes the pain away instantly. What can be better than removing the venom?! I keep one on the tractor, in each car, in the house, in the bee kit, in my little farm truck, in the shop, and in the barn. Works on mosquitoes and venomous snakes as well.

JKJ

[Jerome Stanek]

We just let them alone and after winter there are no hornets in it.

[Lee Schierer]

Someone harvested this one after we had a couple of freezes.

[Doug Garson]

I read this but - so far - I haven't had to try it...

Take a plain old brown paper bag.
Fill it up with bunched up plastic bags.

Hang it up in the area(s) where other bees, wasps, yellow jackets, hornets usually nest.

It's supposed to deter them from making a nest there - - similar to "scare crow".

We have had some success with that method, Lee Valley used to sell a fake wasp nest, basically a grey cloth bag. The theory is that wasps are territorial and if they see a competing colonies nest they stay away. Not 100% effective but worth a try. Amazon still sells them. https://www.amazon.com/Wasp-Fake-Hor.../dp/B01KLMDXKK

[Rich Engelhardt]

Doug- Love it! Thanks. I found a couple of others also. They look a whole lot better than my paper bag idea (which I admit, I stole)

[John K Jordan]

We just let them alone and after winter there are no hornets in it.

I tried to retrieve several and each time I must have waited too long. The nests were always a ragged mess even early in winter. Maybe it's the winters here - more rainy wet than freezing, rarely snows. Based on this, I suspect the hornets must constantly work to maintain the nests the rest of the year.

[Jerry Bruette]

We have had some success with that method, Lee Valley used to sell a fake wasp nest, basically a grey cloth bag. The theory is that wasps are territorial and if they see a competing colonies nest they stay away. Not 100% effective but worth a try. Amazon still sells them. https://www.amazon.com/Wasp-Fake-Hor.../dp/B01KLMDXKK

I like this idea and think I'll give it a try.

[lowell holmes]

You can hit the nests with a propane torch. Be careful if you do.

[John K Jordan]

You can hit the nests with a propane torch. Be careful if you do.

We are currently remodeling and replacing the 30-year-old cedar siding on the house. Pulling off the old exposed dozens of wasp nests, some very large. The foaming type of spray is my favorite.

I use gasoline on large nests of carpenter ants I find in hollow cedar logs at the sawmill. Because a can is handy and it works.

JKJ