A few months ago, we were cleaning out our garage and found an old fold away cot. We put it out back with a bunch of other junk we were planning on taking to the dump. Fast forward to right before hurricane Isabel when we were bringing stuff inside so it wouldn’t get blown away. We discovered that several large holes have appeared in this cot. Apparently, they are entrances to a hornets nest which has been built inside this thing. Anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of this thing? I’m kind of thinking we should just wait until winter when they are either dead or gone.
Do you have any grenades or firecrackers? Or maybe a big can of Raid?
Raid makes a hornet & wasp killer that works great. It’s in a spray can and shoots out a long stream, so you don’t have to get too close to the nest. Use it at night when the hornets are least active. If you want hornets in your garage for the next couple of months then wait until winter. . . .
Ah, thank you CookingWithGas. I shall be stopping off at the store on the way home to get this.
We just had to get rid of a hornet’s nest in our yard. We tried the Raid spray too, but it was high up in a tree and the spray wouldn’t reach. That’s what I would use if you can get access to it, though.
Make sure you follow the directions and spray into the entrance hole in the nest, not just on the nest. If you can’t get a clear shot at the entrance hole you might only succeed in getting them angry at you.
If the hornets are not bothering you I would leave them alone. After a few days of temps below freezing you will be able to remove the nest safely. Hornets won’t reuse a nest. Some of the nests are pretty big and kind of cool. I wanted to save ours but it was in the middle of our yard and the hornets attacked us outside and also stung our dog when she would go out, even though we took care not to bother them. Apparently our whole yard was now considered their territory. After a few attempts with a ladder and various sprays we gave up and called an exterminator, who killed the nest for $50, but he just sprayed it too (using an extension pole).
While doing research to find out what kind of hornets they were I found out some home stores sell hornet nests for people who want to use them for educational purposes or decorating! They’re no good after they’re sprayed though, so if you wait maybe you will have an ebay item?
Be sure you have a path of retreat planned. If they are the big black hornets they WILL fly after you with the fury of … well a hornet.
Be sure you have a path of retreat planned. If they are the big black hornets they WILL fly after you with the fury of … well a hornet.
I had to get rid of a hornets nest in one of our rhododendrom bushes this summer. It was the size of a basketball before we discovered it (well, our dog discovered it in a most unfortunate way).
We emptied 2 cans of Raid wasp & hornet killer. It’s pretty easy stuff to use – as long as you get the stuff on the bugs themselves, they don’t seem to be able to do much in the way of coming after you.
We did this in the late evening, as the directions said, but by morning there were still live wasps coming out of the thing. I guess there were entrances on the back and the spray didn’t absorb all the way into the nest. I decided I would use one of mankind’s OLDEST tools – good ol’ fashioned FIRE. The nest is paper, right?
Well, we WERE in the middle of a drought, so we made sure the garden hose was handy, and we had watered the garden around the bush before the operation to make sure it wasn’t tinder dry (don’t know if it would have helped, anyways).
It didn’t burn quite as easily as I’d hoped, but eventually the last of the wasps either turned to an entomological equivilant of popcorn, or evacuated and what was left of the nest just fell off. No firestorms or anything – rather disappointing.
But I was able to avenge the cruel injury they inflicted on our poor dog.
[Hornet Spray Hijack]
A buddy went to get a can of yard fogger to spray around a lady whos perfume (or something…she was the only one bothered) was attracting a swarm of gnats. Grabbed the long range hornet spray instead. Although he was a couple of feet from her, and was trying to go easy, he still gave her a good shot upside the head with hornet spray. Didn’t impress the gnats much, she left.
[/Hornet Spray Hijack]
My father in law collects hornets nests.
He has 8 or 10 and is constantly getting one for someone that wants one.
I’ve never seen him do it but he puts a garbage bag over the nest and sprays inside with raid .
I’m not sure if its before or after he cuts the nest down.