Hornets Redux
We returned from my sabbatical on Friday. On Sunday afternoon, we were returning from our neighborhood's block party via the sidewalk in the front of our house. We found that in the 40 plus days since we'd last walked in front of our house, a very large hornet's nest had been built in the tree out front. It was roughly 6.5 feet off the ground over the sidewalk, and it was larger than a basketball.
My initial reaction was to acquire another bottle of hornet/wasp killer and take out this nest, but M pointed out that last time around the nest was in a tiny hole in the ground and this time the nest was gigantic. Upon seeing a picture, my sister-in-law was convinced that they were bald-faced hornets, which have a reputation for chasing people who mess with their nest and stinging them relentlessly. In light of the risks, on Monday morning we called up the same exterminator who dealt with our squirrel problems.
On Wednesday the exterminator arrived at our house, and in short order, the nest had been guessed and cut down from the tree into a plastic bag, which was then tossed into a closed cardboard box. The exterminator noted that:
- These were indeed bald-faced hornets, not the more easy going paper wasps.
- This was one of the largest nests he had ever personally seen.
- After spraying the nest, he noted that enough hornets were still moving under the plastic to make the plastic move. He said he'd never seen that before; usually there are a few hornets that don't die immediately, but not nearly enough to move the plastic.
It was not cheap, but given how impressed the exterminator was with the number of hornets, it was clearly money well spent.
Additional Note #1:
The exterminator said while he was taking the nest down, somebody driving by stopped to ask if he could buy the nest. The exterminator noted that it was doused with poison and filled with dying hornets, and that he probably didn't really want it.
Additional Note #2:
My father-in-law used to sell lawn equipment, and as such has spent a lot of time on golf courses. He told M that most of the golf courses he worked with would deal with hornet nests by lighting a gasoline soaked torch and shoving it into the nest's entry. Hornets trying to escape would be lit on fire, and the fire would quickly spread through the nest. I'm genuinely curious how many trees got burned down using this method, not to mention how many people got stung.
My initial reaction was to acquire another bottle of hornet/wasp killer and take out this nest, but M pointed out that last time around the nest was in a tiny hole in the ground and this time the nest was gigantic. Upon seeing a picture, my sister-in-law was convinced that they were bald-faced hornets, which have a reputation for chasing people who mess with their nest and stinging them relentlessly. In light of the risks, on Monday morning we called up the same exterminator who dealt with our squirrel problems.
On Wednesday the exterminator arrived at our house, and in short order, the nest had been guessed and cut down from the tree into a plastic bag, which was then tossed into a closed cardboard box. The exterminator noted that:
- These were indeed bald-faced hornets, not the more easy going paper wasps.
- This was one of the largest nests he had ever personally seen.
- After spraying the nest, he noted that enough hornets were still moving under the plastic to make the plastic move. He said he'd never seen that before; usually there are a few hornets that don't die immediately, but not nearly enough to move the plastic.
It was not cheap, but given how impressed the exterminator was with the number of hornets, it was clearly money well spent.
Additional Note #1:
The exterminator said while he was taking the nest down, somebody driving by stopped to ask if he could buy the nest. The exterminator noted that it was doused with poison and filled with dying hornets, and that he probably didn't really want it.
Additional Note #2:
My father-in-law used to sell lawn equipment, and as such has spent a lot of time on golf courses. He told M that most of the golf courses he worked with would deal with hornet nests by lighting a gasoline soaked torch and shoving it into the nest's entry. Hornets trying to escape would be lit on fire, and the fire would quickly spread through the nest. I'm genuinely curious how many trees got burned down using this method, not to mention how many people got stung.