The mother of all yellow jacket hives...

[brimic]

...is in my patio.

A month ago I sprayed the nest (in a crack between my patio slab and doorstep with spectracide, 2 days later it seemed like their numbers had doubled.

My wife's been nagging at me since then to do something about them, but I've felt pretty much powerless. I tried a few more cans to no avail. Yesterday I noticed that there were 2 hornets that left the nest about every second or so with 2 coming in at the same time. I shot a 2 second burst of bug killer down the crack, closed the screen door and watched. Within a minute or so there was a cloud of what had to be about 100+ hornets angrily circling the crack until the bug juice dried, then it was back to business as usual.

A buddy of mine told me to try Raid, so I bought 2 cans. I waited until 11pm, opened the patio door, and noticed that a hornet was sitting on the side of the doorstep. I then made what was probably my smartest decision all month and went back in for a flashlight. I shined the light down the hole and what I saw reminded me of the scene from Aliens where the Marine poked his head up through the ceiling to have  a look around. There had to be 50 of them staring straight up at me, all writhing and twitching. I quickly dumped a can of bugjuice down the hole, followed by the 2nd can. I could see about a foot down where a pile of dead hornets accumulated, and it seemed that there were more trying to crawl over the heap from deeper in the nest but they expired quickly.

I took great delight in nuking these buggers, now I waot for tomorrow to see if I got them all. *Fingers crossed*

[French G.]

WD-40 and a lighter. Oh wait, it's close to your house? Better use gas then, dries up quicker. 

[esheato]

Haha...I was going to suggest gas too. Never can be to sure ya know.

[brimic]

Using gasoline seriously crossed my mind, I really had to talk myself out of it.

[RoadKingLarry]

A dozen or so years ago dad was keeping his bass boat at my house for the Summer. Come early fall we decided to go fishing and as we were pulling the cover off we found one of the biggest red wasp nests I've ever seen. Dad is big time allergic so he hoofed for the house.
All I had was about a 1/2 gallon of pre-mix for the weed eater handy. I poured it into a pump sprayer and went to town on the wasps, must have been 200 of 'em.
There were still red stains n the side of his boat from the die in the mix 4 years later when he sold the boat

[gunsmith]

all it takes is ONE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDSf3Kshq1M&playnext=1&videos=bVnfHol3FcI

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Good luck.  I stay clear of hornets. They will drop you to your knees. I know this; was cleaning brush out from under a deer stand, 16 years old, outside of Apple Springs TX. It was summer, and we were getting the stands ready for dear season. Well. My noise must have aggravated this hornets day because he made a run at me. Sounded like a small P51 buzzing me. It was big. Real big. I made a dash for the truck, about 50 Ft away. Got right there, hand on the door handle, and he nailed me right between the shoulder blades. Pain, fire like jolts. I will always give them all the area they want. Nuke them from orbit.

You want to read about a hornet that will ruin your day, fast. Where I'm working at currently, San Ardo CA, they have a Tarantula Hawk. From what I've read, the only sting on this planet worse is from the South American bullet ant. Basically,if one stings you, you roll around screaming for a while.

[freakazoid]

Pictures or it didn't happen.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Don't have pictures. I'm 42. It happened when I was 16. So there ya go

[BobR]

Sevin dust is fairly good at killing the little buggers. The one drawback is it won't drop them dead right now so you have to do it at night. Locate the entrance during the day, then at night go back and puff some seving in the opening. DO NOT shine the flashlight down the opening, they may get angry. Lay it on the ground off ot the side to illuminate the opening.

To puff the dust fill an empty dish detergent bottle or similiar about half full with the sevin dust and squeeze it to send the dust down their hole.

bob

[HankB]

. . . A month ago I sprayed the nest (in a crack between my patio slab and doorstep with spectracide, 2 days later it seemed like their numbers had doubled . . .

You found out what I did - the "diazinon substitutes" that are on the market now don't work nearly as well as the real thing. 

I think even the hornet & wasp sprays have been reformulated to be less effective - it used to be that when you sprayed one of those little bastards he'd drop like a rock at the first drop's impact . . . now you cover them with it and they still stay active for a while.

[drewtam]

Sevin dust is fairly good at killing the little buggers. The one drawback is it won't drop them dead right now so you have to do it at night. Locate the entrance during the day, then at night go back and puff some seving in the opening. DO NOT shine the flashlight down the opening, they may get angry. Lay it on the ground off ot the side to illuminate the opening.

To puff the dust fill an empty dish detergent bottle or similiar about half full with the sevin dust and squeeze it to send the dust down their hole.

bob

My boss swears by this stuff. He claims one should mix Sevin in a bucket of liquid (water?) and just set the bucket over the hole and let it drain in all night.

I'm having problem with paper mache nests this week.

[brimic]

You found out what I did - the "diazinon substitutes" that are on the market now don't work nearly as well as the real thing.  

I think even the hornet & wasp sprays have been reformulated to be less effective - it used to be that when you sprayed one of those little bastards he'd drop like a rock at the first drop's impact . . . now you cover them with it and they still stay active for a while.

Yes I got a nasty suprise a few years ago.

When I was a kid I worked at a grocery store. The boss gave me hornet duty which entailed grabbing a can of hornet spray off the shelf and destroying whatever nest was outside. I remember the stuff knocking them right out of the air and I also remember how much fun it was.
Fastforward 20 years. I had hornets in a hole near my driveway. Bought can of flying hornet killer expecting a scene from the good old days. Was I wrong, the stuff not only didn't kill them, but it pissed them off immensely!

You want to read about a hornet that will ruin your day, fast. Where I'm working at currently, San Ardo CA, they have a Tarantula Hawk. From what I've read, the only sting on this planet worse is from the South American bullet ant. Basically,if one stings you, you roll around screaming for a while.

The worst one I ever got hit with was a bald face hornet- the little sob zapped me 3 times in the lip which immediately swelled up to be even with the tip of my nose. I've accidentally zapped myself with 220 while getting too close to the big screws in my breaker box, that didn't hurt as much as the hornet sting

[RaspberrySurprise]

all it takes is ONE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDSf3Kshq1M&playnext=1&videos=bVnfHol3FcI

Japanese hornets. Nasty nasty things. Their stings cause nerve and necrotic tissue damage.

[MechAg94]

I spray for wasps at my gun range, mostly in the spring and early summer.  I generally use whatever spray Lowes is selling.  50% of the wasps drop I'd say and 45% fly away to die with no fight in them.  There are always a few that are on the other side of the nest or don't get a  good shot.  You still need to keep your distance and stay still after spraying the nest.  I believe they tend to attack movement.  The only time I have ever been stung by a wasp was when I was a kid and stupidly waved my hat at a red wasp.  About 30 minutes later watching cartoons, I stung on the back of the head.  I've certainly been lucky a few times though.

I have had people tell me that a few gallons of water with a whole bottle of Dawn in a pump sprayer will knock them down.

For your situation, I was wondering if a bug bomb would be more appropriate.  Set it up to spray in the crack and let it spray for a while.  

[K Frame]

5 pounds of dry ice and a tarp.

when they climb into their hole and settle down for the night, put the ice over the hole, cover it with the tarp, and seal around it with sand bags and leave it until all of the dry ice is gone.

What the dry ice doesn't freeze the carbon dioxide with suffocate.

[AJ Dual]

You definitely need to read the can.

A lot of stuff (Some types of Raid) are just Permethrin (Synthetic Pyrethrum) which is not all that strong.

Not always a 100% correlation but the more n-9 dimethel ether t-61 Latin gobbeldygook in the active ingredients list, the better the spray works.

If you're in an area that you don't have to worry about colorfastness or paint, brake or carb cleaner drops them instantly. It's usually a mix of acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, tetrachloroethelyene etc. All sorts of nasty solvents.

Insects are held together and waterproofed with various waxes and lipids (fats) which keeps their osmotic balance right, organs together etc. and this just dissolves them RFN.

You just have to be careful though. If you've got vinyl siding etc. 

[K Frame]

Many sprays are ineffective against nests not because of super insects, but because of the construction of the nest. When you spray a nest, you hit the critters closest to the entrance, and they die.

But you don't come close to touching the dozens, or even hundreds, of insects in the many curving tunnels and chambers of the nest. Once the liquid dries, it's useless. That's why powders are more effective - they remain effective against anything that touches them.

I've killed several ground nests over the years with dry ice. It's very effective, far more effective than dumping can after can of spray down the hole.

[HankB]

. . . I have had people tell me that a few gallons of water with a whole bottle of Dawn in a pump sprayer will knock them down . . .

When I was gardening I tried a product called "Safer Soap" as an insecticide. The local organic gardening gurus swore it was effective.

They lied - I may just as well have been using pure water. I also tried Ivory - I doubt Dawn would work any better, and I'm not particularly in a mood to try it.

Based on my experience, the ONLY place soap/detergent has in bug killer or weed killer is - possibly - as a wetting agent for the active ingredient.

[Monkeyleg]

when they climb into their hole and settle down for the night, put the ice over the hole, cover it with the tarp, and seal around it with sand bags and leave it until all of the dry ice is gone.

How do you know when it's safe to lift the tarp to see if they're all dead? 

[brimic]

When I was gardening I tried a product called "Safer Soap" as an insecticide. The local organic gardening gurus swore it was effective.

They lied - I may just as well have been using pure water. I also tried Ivory - I doubt Dawn would work any better, and I'm not particularly in a mood to try it.

Based on my experience, the ONLY place soap/detergent has in bug killer or weed killer is - possibly - as a wetting agent for the active ingredient.

I've used dish detergent mixed with water in a garden sprayer to great effect on box alder bugs, but then again they don't sting so there was no harm in trying it


Maybe I'll give the dry ice a try. One of my first thoughts was mixing up a pint of garage chemist napalm, but since its so close to the house, I think dry ice will be much better- if not as fun.

[K Frame]

You wait until the next night, remove the tarp, and the following morning you observe the hole to see if there is any activity.

I've never had anything less than a 100% success rate using this method. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air, which means that it will very effectively displace any oxygen in the hive. That, along with the extreme cold, guarantees that you'll kill the whole nest.

[K Frame]

Phosgene gas is also very effective at killing hornets. It's also heavier than air.

Unfortunately, it's also very effective at killing humans and companion animals.

[AJ Dual]

Phosgene gas is also very effective at killing hornets. It's also heavier than air.

Unfortunately, it's also very effective at killing humans and companion animals.

Yeah, if you go the brake cleaner route, (really more of a field expedient anyway...) don't try to combine that attack with fire. Tri-chlorinated solvents have a habit of decomposing into Phosgene when exposed to heat and flame.

[K Frame]

Another method is get a bug zapper, put it as close to the nest as possible, and turn it on. The buzzing noise will infuriate them and they'll just keep swooping in for the kill, and be killed.

But, that's not 100%, and unlike the dry ice, it doesn't sterilize the nest.