A few years ago, I started seeing these HUGE brown bees, which I later found out to be hornets, probably these. They are huge, about the size of an adult thumb. These live in the bark of trees or in cavities. I have a nest of them in a favorite elm next to my kitchen. When I go outdoors to walk my dogs at night, they are all over my porch, apparently attracted by the porch lights. Is there a safe way to get rid of them now ? Will hornet spray down in the hole of the tree do it ?
It should. Are they active in the daytime too? Is there a hole where they go in ? If you use the spray you need to do it at their least active time. They can get mean. If you can you need to cover their hole after you spray or just stuff a rag in it so they can`t get out. That would give the spray a chance to get more of them.
They are less active at night, though they are attracted to my front porch lights. I can go out the backdoor to get at their hole. I could leave my ladder parked near there earlier in the day. I will have something handy to stuff in their hole.
Be very careful because when you start to spray they will swarm out. Don`t guess you know someone with a beekeeping suit? If you have to use a ladder, get someone to help you with this. Would not be fun to fall.
No, I would not care to fall. I cant think of anyone with a bee keeping suit either. And I am allergic to bee stings AND the epi shot. My front porch light shines right at their nest, which is likely why they come out.
Then you do not do this ! Hire someone or get a neighbor to help, you stay inside because they will be madder than hornets as the saying goes. And chances are they will get stung. Now you know how this saying got started.[/b]
Normally as long as they haven`t been disturbed in the nest they will go about their business. Just don`t swat at them. Spray with OFF or Cutter as most bees and insects in general don`t like the smell.
AA, I have never had wasps or hornets come out of their nests at nighttime attracted to the light of the porch. I have a hornets nest up above the garage door as it is and they never come out when the light is on. Do you have a picture of this "offender" that we could see? I would be very interested to know for sure that it is a wasp of some kind, but I have never heard of a brown hornet unless it is the same thing we call yellow jackets, here. We have ground hornet/wasps, but they are very small (and the skunks love to dig them up and eat them).
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=jap ... &FORM=IGRE They are very similar to these, maybe not quite this big. Mine nest in the tree cavity, and under the bark of some of my trees. They are close to the size of my thumb though. They are NOT the same thing as a yellow jacket, those are nasty enough. I put out two traps for them. One is a sugar/water/vinegar/dish soap mix in a jug, and the other is a boughten trap from a yard sale with doggy doo in it.They are always on the doggy doo. I also have a nest somewhere of bald faced hornets which I have not yet found. My son says he will spray something lethal into the tree nest... Have not yet decided on that.
