Help...Hornets

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I really hate to kill these critters because they really do good for us. I just wish they would leave us alone and for the most part they will.

Last Sunday I was going to knock a wasp nest out of the hose reel before the wifey got stung. Well, I got stung. Right on the eye lid.

The swelling went down on Tuesday.

The wasp briefly won the fight but I won the battle.

I have found that power washers work real good on wasp nest under the deck rail and house eves. And, a little WD40 in the hole of a Carpenter Bee and they don't come back. They bore another one.

 

[MossRoad]

I use this stuff from Ortho. If a bug even passes through the mist, it almost bursts into flames as it crashes to the ground. Really effective stuff, and is supposed to be safe for in home use, too. I use it for paper wasps under the edge of my pool, deck and eves.

The stuff that sprays out 20 feet works good too, but sometimes sprays a little too much and I don't want it in my pool.

 

[gmason]

Re: Help...Hornets...Yes Hornets!!

Well, here's the official word on the species of Yellow Jacket/Hornet.
<font color="blue"> " In NC you have a species called European hornet (Vespa crabro).
This hornet is also a type of yellow jacket which is way it looks similar.
The European hornet is the largest yellow jacket in North America." Jack DeAngelis ORST."</font>

here's a pic


Also, "INTRODUCTION. This hornet gets its introduction from Europe into the New York area about 1840-1860. Presently it is found in the United States in 31 states, from the eastern seaboard west to the eastern Dakotas and south through Iowa and Illinois to New Orleans"



As yet, un-stung
gary

 

[fivestring]

Re: Help...Hornets...Yes Hornets!!

Another immigrant that fled to NY!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[1bush2hog]

Re: Help...Hornets...Yes Hornets!!

Are those the same critters commonly called "news bees"? I have seen similar ones at my house in GA hoovering around the outside flood lights at night. While they sure are intimidating, I'm not sure if they actually sting or not.

Would be curious to find out the answer to this question from someone else first though /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[gmason]

Re: Help...Hornets...Yes Hornets!!

From my research, they are also called brown Hornets, not seen one about new bees, and yes they pack a punch from what I've read. But not overly agressive. If you disterb a nest or get in thier way near the nest.

I found a couple of Eroupean web sites that say they are protected in certain countries. Ouch!
I've looked but not found the nest yet. Of course I'm not going around beating on trees.

I did find a place where some wasps chewed through the metal screen on one of our vents of the attic.

gary

 

[fivestring]

Look toward the southwest....
I saw our Charlotte hornets move their nest to New Orleans... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[TresCrows]

"Gary I have no idea. I spend all my time going the opposite direction of where they might be."

Yeah, I am with cindi, I like to not be where they are /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.
Yep, that is a hornet, some varities of Hornets are yellow. Hornets and Yellow Jackets are very closely related. That Europeon variety will sting and is to be considered armed and dangerous. Kill on site /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.
As to the sprays we have now--I would not get into close combat with just a can of Ortho spray. I don't care if it sprays 50 feet, I have seen Red Wasps (the big ones with bright orange bodies and black wings) and Hornets fly right up the stream. Back home the Bald Face types I saw were both the yellow variety and the black and white variety. I have seen their nests in trees. I shot one when I was a kid with a .410. Not good /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. Since I was in my pirogue, I had no where to go but into the water.
Yes, they send out scouting parties and yes, they will return with troops in force to carry on the battle. I would not go after a Hornet nest with any thing short of a Bradly Fighting Vehicle and a Flame Thrower, Ortho spray, you got to be kidding--No Way /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.
Their always finding new insects. I know there is a varity of Hornet in the Piney Woods and swamps north La. that I have never seen in texts. They are two or three times as big as that critter in the pic (I was a kid but I remember them being VERY big). They build their nests typically in hollow trees. They are huge, aggressive and extremely dangerous. They are not that Europeon variety, they are bigger and have a black body with some whiteish markings and a white face and dark amber colored wings. I have never found reference to these and have not seen any since I was a kid when I explored deep into the thickets and swamps. I associted a repugnant stinch with their nests that gave me cause to go the other way. I assume it was the rotting flesh of small animals they had killed and some of those "bad little boys" that had wandered into the Thicket never to be seen again, the crows were not with them. J

 

[Macroman]

If they are protected in europe is there anyway we can repatriate them as we did the wolves in Yellowstone?

I cut into a hickory limb in KY one year and found it riddled with hornets. They had chewed the nest into the green hickory. They looked similar to yours but I do not recall the red head. Boy was I glad it was a cold day. Made the damage from wood bees look like childs play.

Did they give you any idea where they nest?

 

[pruntyc]

Say TresCrows, what you discribed is the bald face hornets. Have heard them called white faced hornets. I think that is from the white on their head. They have told me their sting is one of the worst of all of them. They are different than the europeon hornet. The bald face hornet, are relation to the yellow jacket and the wasp also, they say. When you disturb their nest you get into trouble real fast, as they will have 400 to 700 workers come out and attack. Not only you, but your dog, friend or anthing else that they might think is a threat to them. I can remember my grandfather setting on the porch and letting them catch flys off his arm. They would pick up the fly and never even touch his arm. They don't bother you, as long as they don't think you are bothering them.