A few years ago I stumbled across a slightly different method that works wonderfully. Go to your local auto parts store and buy a can of brake parts cleaner (intended to wash dust, etc. from automobile brakes). Be sure to find a can which has a little hollow stem that fits in the nozzle (like a can of WD-40 has); this will improve your aim and increase your range. Both wasps and hornets drop dead the moment the stuff touches them, and from my experience the survivors don’t attempt to build in the same place in the same year. Setting the fluid on fire is not necessary. The stuff is only about $2 a can, and it is made to evaporate in a few seconds, leaving no residue. It’s much cheaper than the stuff that’s actually made to kill wasps, and you’re not spraying nerve toxins around your home.
[hijack]
By the way, a good treatment for most types of wasp stings is to get a handful of baking soda, drip a few drops of water in it to make a paste, and apply this to the sting. This relieves most of the pain almost immediately, but you still need to monitor the victim for breathing difficulties in case of an allergic reaction. Having come through a wasp sting without a reaction does not mean that you are forever safe from allergic reactions to more; on the contrary, the first event can sensitize your immune system to the venom, and a second dose, even years later, will cause your body to produce too much interferon as a reaction - which actually causes the breathing difficulty, etc. [/hijack]
We get yellowjackets in our ivy the way that some people get McDonald’s for lunch. These are a different species and hive, but I just use a pyrethrin-based spray (probably what you have been using), soak the hive and do it whenever I see a wasp building a hive. Eventually, the wasps move on. It is my experience that any wasp that gets any spray on them will go into convulsions and most fall off the hive. A few will be able to fly but will not attack.
For what it’s worth, I’ve found that a garden hose works for spotting wasps in dense cover. They fly out when you spray them, so you know where the hive is.
I thought bee’s were the general catagory which hornets, bumble, honey, wasps were in. I guess not.
What about aiming a hose at the hive (somehow - details not worked out yet) then turning the water on sot he stream hits the hive then just leave it for a few hours?
How strong are the hives anyway?
putting the hive in a jar sounds amusing but a couple of problems - mainly of which is I’m not going to get that close. The other beign they are hived on the semicircular part of a picket fence and there is no way to enclose the jar around the hive.
Also I’ve been stung by horents before so it’s not my 1st sting. I don’t seem to be alergic to them.
the wasp spray is $3-4 per can so no biggie. Also brake cleaner is triclorotrifloroethane or something like that. It does not ignite, I have a can of that stuff which says “flash point…none” right on the can. This is old stuff however and maybe they have come up with an alternative cleaner that has a risk of fire, causes cancer and doesn’t work as well… I’ll save this part for another thread.
Never had to deal with above-ground hives before, apart from little ones (amazing how many of those critters can be in a small hive, though!). For ground bees my mom and I always got some gasoline in a container and poured it in the holes at night. Never heard from them again. Probably not the most ecological method, but hell: we’re killing critters in the first place.
Above ground I’ve always used the hose to knock it loose from whatever it was on, then get out of the way until night. Come nightime you have several more options available to you with a loose hive. They will probably already have begun rebuilding it above, but it is so tiny now that it isn’t a big deal.
I’d say the first priority, period, is to knock it off the fence and run to regroup. Your options increase dramatically after such an attack. This is war!
p.s.: I like killing bugs, I should have been an exterminator
damn straight this is war. The wasps control a major thorofare on my land (the left side gate) and I want it back.
I used this method to take down a hornet’s nest bigger than a basketball without getting stung once.
At night, take a hefty garbage bag, sneak up to the nest and cover the nest from the bottom, closing it around the top. Once you have them locked in the bag, pull down the whole nest. It may take a bit of effort and you may need to take the branch it’s hanging from. Just be sure to get a good look at how it’s attached and have a plan before you attempt this.
Another way is to empty a can of wasp spray into the bag first, then just tie it around the nest for a few days.
Good luck 
The nest is against the fence not hanging. The fence is uneven. This makes the put something around the nest method nearly impossible.
Anyone know where I can get some M-80’s over the net?
Forget the M-80 comment, After some looking I found them to be banned from sale anywhere in the US. Not that I’m against using it but don’t want to incur the wrath of the mods requesting a banned item.
Hmmmm…
Have you considered a “bomb” type bug spray? The kind that has a locking nozzle that sprays upward for fogging a whole house?
If you can get it close enough under the nest to fire directly up into the hole from a few inches away… Maybe set it on top of something or tape it to the fence before setting it off.
They aren’t made for hornets but it seems if you could unload a whole can right into the nest it would do the trick.
Of course you would have to be pretty brave and stealthy, and of course do it at night and then run like hell!
Whatever you do, consider that at any time, there are individual insects that are not in the nest; if you bag it up or just block the entrance hole, the insects returning from forays will get pissed off and sting you (If you’re still around at this time).
Might be time to call in the pest exterminators; they often have a sort of lance contraption that pierces the nest and puffs powdered insecticide all around the interior.
12 guage dragon’s breath rounds are both fun and effective.
cheers,
dins
12 gauge dragon’s breath rounds are both fun and effective.
cheers,
dins
I was considering a bug bomb. I was thinking of duct tapping it to the end of a long shaft and spraying it right into the hole. Also it appears that they have a single opening and was considering getting that triple expanding foam and sealing up the entrance.
I was also considering a blowtorch at the end of a long stick.
What are the chances that a bee would get to me if I crush their hive with my car’s bumper? How sealed is the passenger compartment?
The car idea is good, but I don’t think you can trust that everything is well-sealed. If you don’t mind looking like a complete lunatic, you could build yourself a little bee assault enclosure out of a refrigerator box with a clear plastic window cut in it at eye level, plus foot-holes (maybe sealed with a pair of hip waders), and one big hole in the side with a giant rubber glove attached to it, so you can stick your hand out and hold the hose spray nozzle. The bees will think they’re being attacked by a 60’s scifi robot.
Don’t forget an emergency exit in case you have a hull breach and have to run.
Send pictures. 
Your passenger compartment should protect from them. Ever notice dead wasp in the back windows of cars? They couldn’t get out to save their lives. Also the hornets probably wouldn’t go straight for you anyway but would attack you bumber that is covered with their dead. Crush it, go straight to a car wash and get rid of the dead bee scent and return that night to properly attack the remains with a can of Raid wasp and hornet killer.
I wish I was there to enjoy.
Update - I planned a sneak attack tonight (sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance) - A bug bomb tapped to about a 15 ft pipe and a can of flying insect killer for close range defense.
I sprayed some of the flying insect killer between me and the hive - kind of a protective shield. then set off the bugbomb and positioned it to spray towards the hive entrance. I got about 1/2 a second of spray actually towards the entrance then the bug bomb maulfunctioned and shut off.
I didn’t wait around to see if they were comming out, I just dropped the pole (and flying insect killer - I don’t know why I dropped that one) and walked away.
erislover
GROUND BEES!?! Good Lord, I thought I only had to worry about nests you can see. Please do tell about these ground bees, of which you speak.
Pythagoras
Thanks for the wasp info!
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2143.html
Everything you ever wanted to know about ground-dwelling bees, but were afraid to ask.
If you opt for the car method, try backing into the nest instead of driving forward. They bees won’t be as likely to fly into the grill if you are concerned about this (I would be). Or, cover up the grill with cardboard the way some people do when they use this method to retain engine heat in their cars in wintertime.
Best of luck to you, k2dave. Being an apiphobe myself, I must say that I’m glad I am not in your situation.
erislover
Thanks for the link, I just read the information. I am still in shock, this only adds to my paranoia of flying critters!
As if I haven’t hijacked enough, but the other afternoon my sister and I were sitting in her backyard, and in flew the largest wasp/hornet/yellow jacket that ever lived. It was the size of my thumb, no lie!!! We were terrified and ran like screaming school girls into the house.
Melanie