How to Deal With A Bald-Faced Hornet Nest?

[Palanan]

It’s been an exceptionally buggy year where I am, and over the last couple of weeks I’ve tried a variety of methods to deal with two stubborn yellowjacket nests in my front yard.

I finally destroyed one, and beat down another—only to discover that there’s a huge hornet nest right between them, which has been there the whole time.

I only destroyed the one yellowjacket nest by spraying an entire can of commercial wasp foam down the entrance tunnel. But that was an underground nest, and the hideous toxins are at least somewhat contained under the plug of earth I tamped down over the entrance.

I don’t want to do that with the bald-faced hornet nest, because this is fully aboveground and I don’t want a two-foot-high nest dripping with chemicals to dispose of. Also, I would really like the nest itself, since it’s an impressive construction in its own right.

So the question is how to depopulate the nest in a nontoxic way. I’ve already tried two different commercial traps baited with pheromones and whatnot, with absolutely zero success. I’ve also tried a couple homemade traps, including the ever-popular two-liter Coke bottle, which for me again brought zero success.

This past week I tried some small-scale biocontrol, transferring several Argiope spiders to the clump of shrubs surrounding the nest. A couple of them put up very nice webs close to the nest, and managed to catch one or two hornets; but the hornets catch on quickly and simply adjust their morning commute to avoid the webs altogether.

This brings us up to last night, when I dumped a shovelful of diatomaceous earth onto the hornet nest, trying to fill the entrance hole and force them to crawl through it. Sadly this hasn’t had much effect either. The nest is like a busy airport, with hornets constantly coming and going, and at this point I’m not sure what to try next.

So, any suggestions? Any recommendations for a more effective hornet trap, or some other way to target the nest itself in a nontoxic fashion?

[Algeh]

Well, how much longer is the nest likely to be problem? I don't know how far south you are, but my understanding is that bald-faced hornet nests don't make it through the winter (only new queens winter over someplace, then start new nests in the spring, the rest of them die off in fall), so it could be winding down on its own already.

[Palanan]

That's correct--the new queens disperse and overwinter, leaving the nest and the old queen to die.

This is what happened to a large nest in one of my trees last fall, probably the direct antecedent to the current monster. The difference was, that nest was thirty feet up in a large tree, and well away from the house. The current nest is just a few steps away from the driveway--and they become extremely defensive towards intruders as the season wears on.

So, I need to deal with the nest before they become a hazard to anyone getting into the car. I don't want to use chemical poisons if I can possibly help it, so that leaves me trying to work out nontoxic ways of killing them all.

[Togath]

Hmm... well, maybe go the beekeeper route and use smoke to calm them down? It won't kill them, but it might open safer and less chemically ways of handling it if they aren't swarming as aggressively.

[warty goblin]

Windex is quite effective at killing wasps, and is fairly immediately incapacitating to them.

I strongly advise against keeping the nest, since wasps or immature pupae within it may survive your purge and then end up flying around the inside of your house later in the year. We had this happen once with a very nice paper wasp nest we brought in from the woods in midwinter.

[JDMSJR]

You can try getting a black garbage bag, spraying the inside with wasp killer. Then go out at night, put the bag over the nest and secure the top so the wasps can't get out. Check back in a few weeks and they should all be dead and you can dispose of the nest.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Togath
Hmm... well, maybe go the beekeeper route and use smoke to calm them down? It won't kill them, but it might open safer and less chemically ways of handling it if they aren't swarming as aggressively.

I’ve thought about this, but I’m not sure how to generate the smoke. And I don’t know if smoke will have the same effect on hornets as it does on bees.


Originally Posted by warty goblin
I strongly advise against keeping the nest, since wasps or immature pupae within it may survive your purge and then end up flying around the inside of your house later in the year.

Good advice, but I never said I’d be keeping it indoors. My plan was to let it stay outside through midwinter at least, although at this point I’m less committed to saving the physical nest. These things are tenacious.


Originally Posted by JDMSJR
You can try getting a black garbage bag, spraying the inside with wasp killer. Then go out at night, put the bag over the nest and secure the top so the wasps can't get out. Check back in a few weeks and they should all be dead and you can dispose of the nest.

Thought of this, but apart from the toxic-chemical aspect, it would be almost impossible to wrap the nest. It’s been cleverly constructed at the heart of a multi-stemmed, extremely thorny rosebush, so I can’t wrap the bag around the nest without it snagging all over the thorns.

At this point I’m wondering if I could try plugging the entrance holes, but I’m not sure what to use, and most likely they’d chew their way out in short order. You do have to admire the nest—it’s cleverly designed to be as defensible as possible. The diatomaceous earth just isn't making a difference, and even pouring boiling water into the uppermost entrance wouldn't harm the bulk of the nest.

It's times like these that the primate brain and opposable thumbs just aren't representin'.

:smallannoyed:

[JDMSJR]

I guess you could always wait till it is dark, and then wail on the nest with a baseball bat. The wasps won't be able to fly around in the dark. Do that for a few nights in a row and see if they get the hint.

[Tyndmyr]

I've found that fire is incredibly effective. Put on a mask, spray it with poison, then set the whole thing on fire. No more wasps!

You could, I suppose, omit the poison step and keep it non-toxic, though the nest and bush will be a bit singed.

I feel I must point out that smoke does not actually calm either wasps or bees. It simply confuses their pheromone signalling system. This does help practically in keeping them from stinging you en masse, but individual wasps can still be pretty grumpy. They just won't coordinate to all sting you at the same time.

Smoke or no smoke though, wasps are a lot more willing to pull the trigger on stinging you, on account of not dying when it happens. So, I wouldn't rely on smoke alone to avoid stinging.

[Keltest]

I guess you could always wait till it is dark, and then wail on the nest with a baseball bat. The wasps won't be able to fly around in the dark. Do that for a few nights in a row and see if they get the hint.

I would advise against this. The dark might make it harder for them to go after you, but that wont stop them from giving it a darn good effort, and hornets are real bastards.

Honestly, assuming you aren't willing to wait for winter to clear out the hornets for you, I think you should just bite the bullet and check for a professional pest removal service in your area. From the middle of a rosebush, theres not really going to be a particularly clean way to get that thing out that doesn't involve chemicals, and you don't really want half measures for this sort of thing if its an active problem.

[kgato503]

Personally, I'm all for better living through chemistry. Especially with Bald-Faced Hornets. They are extra nasty, and are active both earlier and later in the day than most other wasp species.

A few years ago, my parents had to deal with a nest in a tree they were trying to cut down (luckily it was a cool day when they tried this and discovered the head-height nest). My mom used a good wasp killing spray, and then later retrieved he nest and put it in its own display box. We ended up donating the thing to the local high school science department (and yes, we disclosed how the nest had been killed). I think, if you were to use a spray, then let the nest air out naturally for a little while, you could then put it into a display without any problems. This would also better protect the nest.

[RandomNPC]

Honestly, if the nest is that impressive, take a few pictures to preserve the memory, then spray it with every toxin you're comfortable spraying on it, raid, bug-off, yellow cake uranium....

Honestly, I respect a well built thing, but sometimes you need to take care of your safety.

[MrZJunior]

Have you considered not driving?

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by RandomNPC
...then spray it with every toxin you're comfortable spraying on it....

As mentioned in the OP, I don't want to spray any toxins on it. That's the main constraint here.

We've starting getting overnight temps in the 30s, and that seems to have slowed them down considerably. I'm not sure if the new queens have dispersed or not, nor how much longer this year's generation of workers will survive. I'd like to think they're winding down for the year.

[Delicious Taffy]

If you're not overly worried about preserving the nest itself, you could just make a pipe bomb and stuff it in there.

Or buy a bunch of chicken wire, fashion it into a dome, and hook it up to a power source for a cheap and dirty electrical barrier.

Barring that, kerosene doesn't cost much.

[The Succubus]

A lot of these suggestions are hazardous at best and extremely dangerous at worst. Is it possible to get a pest control guy in that has the proper protective gear to remove the nest safely?

[Ninja_Prawn]

A lot of these suggestions are hazardous at best and extremely dangerous at worst. Is it possible to get a pest control guy in that has the proper protective gear to remove the nest safely?

Where would be the fun in that? :smalltongue:

[Knaight]

The easy way to deal with it is to give up on keeping the nest itself - get a shovel, knock it out, flatten it into the ground and call it a day.

If you really want the nest though, this plan needs modification. Get a large plastic storage container with a lid, stick it under, knock the nest in, put the lid on, then air seal the thing. You'll probably want to do this on a cold day - and if the hornets are feeling cooperative a candle in there before sealing it can help. Hornets need to breathe.

[Traab]

Have you tried dropping a two ton safe on top of it? I wonder how much glue it would take to cover the nest? Melt down some lead and give that a shot. If you give up on the saving the nest idea, see if you can get a couple raccoons or foxes to move nearby. Apparently they will tear open and devour these nests. Since spiders didnt work. It looks like praying mantis will also kill them, though that could take a solid number to make a difference. Bats will eat flying adults. Mice and rats, skunks, raccoons, weasels, badgers and wolverines are all brave enough to occasionally attack a wasp nest in order to eat the larvae inside. PRETTY sure you dont want badgers weasels or wolverines in your yard though.

[enderlord99]

Light the nest, and the bush it is contained in, on fire. If you're against poisons, you're probably also against chemical flame-accelerants, but if not, use plenty of them.