Wasps/yellow jackets/??

4wanderingeyes

5 year old buck +
I have a paper nest about a foot tall, and 8 inches wide in one of my apple trees. I assume they are no good, and I need to get rid of them. I didnt have my camera when I went out there, but I will take pictures when I go back out today. What should my plan of attack be on removing it? Wasp spray, spray it good and run? Will the Black Flag wasp spray harm my apple trees?

Or should I just douse it with Permethrin run, and leave it for a couple days?
 
It sounds like Bald Faced Hornets. That is what they are if they are black and white. They should be about the size of a Bumble Bee. Yellow jackets usually build in the ground and are yellow and brown or yellow and black. Both of them will be on you like white on rice if you mess with them.
 
I had a nest last year that sounds a lot like the one you are describing. It looked like the bald-faced hornet nest photo at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolichovespula_maculata

I read that bald-faced hornets can sting multiple times and even spit venom into a person's eyes causing temporary blindness. I was able to avoid the tree until winter and then destroyed the nest at that time.
 
This is it, I drove to it with my ATV, and took a picture, sprayed it with Black flag wasp and hornet spray, got right into the entrance hole, saturated it, and took off quick in case I had any followers. I will go back tomorrow and see how well it worked, and knock it down and squish it.


53806081-890E-4FB3-9481-7B95755D93DD.jpeg
 
Yellow jackets will build nest but usually in places like under an eve. Those or hornets Ive never seen any in Kansas.If you get nest down and theres no followers you can put in black trash bag in sun for a few days if you want to save nest.
 
I had one of these last year, same kind of nest and also in an apple tree, mine were definitely Hornets.
A friend suggested using a thick plastic bag well after dark and bag the nest then cut the branch. So I go out there a couple hours after dark with my daughter to hold the bag while I cut. I had to (quietly) stomp down a path to get to the nest to make a clean escape route, I get 5 feet away from the hive, shined my light on it and I see 20-30 Hornets already outside the hive and called it a night lol I am no fool, especially sober with my daughter in tow. I waited a month or so until we had a really cold night and followed through the same procedure and successfully bagged and burned the nest.
 
You probably destroyed the nest, but didn't kill a bunch of hornets. Once the sun comes up, they get active pretty quickly. The way to get 'em all is to wait for a cool night then spray the piss out of the nest inside and out when it's just light enough for you to see what you're doing.
 
My friends and I found one of these in a pasture when we were young and just had that youthful fascination with blowing things up. One lit firework later and we were covered with stings....all of the ideas with spraying at night are a better option than M-80s and slow running.
 
Shoot it with a 12 ga
 
This is it, I drove to it with my ATV, and took a picture, sprayed it with Black flag wasp and hornet spray, got right into the entrance hole, saturated it, and took off quick in case I had any followers. I will go back tomorrow and see how well it worked, and knock it down and squish it.


View attachment 35792

That looks similar to a hornet's nest to me. They are nasty. They are less active when it is colder, so very early morning is a good time. I had one in a tree. I rode out in my tractor with a cab. A truck will work just as well. You just need an enclosed cab. I took a shotgun and shot it near where it attached to the branch. One shot only and quickly closed the cab door. I then left. I came back a few days later and they had abandoned the nest. I don't know if this works all the time or if I was just lucky. Eventually, the nest fell to the ground.

When it is very cold, like in the winter, they are really inactive. You can probably wait until then and just cut the limb. I doubt they would be able to do anything in freezing weather.

Thanks,

Jack
 
I will inspect it tomorrow and see if the spray took care of them. I like the idea of the shotgun.
 
Couple years ago I had one about fifteen feet above me in my favorite deer stand. They never bothered me or my boys, that type of nest is common here see a couple every year. Have never heard of them bothering anyone that didn't bother them.

Buddy has one on corner of his garage door this summer...has been sending us pics of its growth.

cUBPJXU.jpg



I've had my honey bees sting me just walking by the hives twenty yards away when they have a few supers on and it's an overcast day.
 
That would have been a nice one in a couple of more weeks. I usually put my bee suit on and if I can reach it just put a trash bag around it, cut it off and take it home to the chest freezer for a couple of weeks. I will agree though if they are white faces they are extra nasty
 
I took one of those into school when I was a kid. Cut it it off the tree in late October or November. Once it warmed up, the nest started buzzing. The teacher took it outside before things got interesting.
 
My brother said I should cut it down and hang it on my wall in my house. I told him he can come over, cut it down and hang it on his wall.
 
Top