Getting rid of ground hornets
 

Ok, well I found out that I have a ground hornet nest in my front yard. Actually it's my parents yard but the guy that mows it apparently got stung twice. He told me they are nasty buggers and in an indirect way asked me to do something about it. So, of course, I am checking this forum to see if anyone has any experience in dealing with these things. They have a hole in the ground that I can visibly see very close to our porch. I've seen it for weeks but just left them alone, I have never been stung by them and I walk through them all the time. Ignorance is bliss I guess. Anyway, Im going to the mattresses. I would like your help.

I'm sure its not the most environmentally friendly method but here is what I do. Wait till night and they will calm down and go to sleep. At this point get about 2 quarts of sand and a can of gasoline. Pour gas down the hole for a while till you start to hear them buzz and then dump the sand on top of the hole to keep them from getting out since you have quite literally stirred up a hornet nest.

The fumes of the gas should kill them no need to light it on fire, but that can be fun too.

That sounds like fun, but I think thats a little more work than I want to do. I was thinking of just buying something and emptying the can on them. By the way, do you think ant and roach killer can be substituted for hornets and wasps killer? I have a full can of that already.

With it being underground, the nest may be a lot bigger that you think. I had one in my back yard that looked to be about the size of small datsun once we started digging it up.

We ended up puring about 2 gallons of gasoline down the whole and lighting it on fire.

mmmmmm, fried bees.:eek:

Well I just got back from Lowe's and I bought some hornet killer. I am going to empty the can in there. These hornets are not humongous, They are about a centimeter in length, maybe slightly bigger. How big were the ones you dealt with. It is almost sunset here, I am about to make my move.....

I cant use gasoline, they next is right next to my front porch. I am going to have to make a quick getaway if things go awry.

You better wait until it's nearly totally dark out or they are going to sting the crap out of you......

Ok, how long after its totally dark? What about nearly dark??

I recommend napalm...and lots of it.

Ok, its totally dark outside, I checked 5 min ago and I didnt see any activity, wish me luck!

OK, I emptied nearly a can into the hole. I then smashed a rock on top of the entrance (hole). I guess Ill see if it worked tomorrow!

A coworker was told to use hairspray. She just sprayed it down the hole and put a rock over the hole. She had to do it around dusk though.

We always just poured ammonia over the buggers.

Okay, well, I emptied a whole can on that nest and they are still flying around! I killed a bunch of them though. I see a pile of them near the entrance. I bought another can. I'm going to continue to hit them and run. I need to find an eco-friendly way to get rid of them. I don't want any chemicals in our well-water.

Never tried this method but it works for groundhogs. You might try Dry Ice, it is eco-friendly, the only issue would be delivery, with big holes like groundhogs make you just toss a few pounds down the hole and cap it and they die by asphyxiation.

Maybe put a few pounds under an upside-down bucket over their hole?

Also Ive heard of sucking them out with a wet dry vac, I just don't know what you would do with your vac afterward, or flooding the hole with a hose and water.

Not very environmentally friendly, but should take care of your problem. Pour diesel fuel down the hole and cover the hole. I called a pest control company once to take care of a large ground hornet nest. They charged me $45 and the guy was stung 3 times.
Now that you have made them mad you had better leave them alone for several days. When you make your next attempt if you'll wait until several hours after dark you will be less likely to be stung and more of the hornets will be on the nest. The pest control dude showed me the nest in my yard and it was larger than a softball. Be careful because ground hornets are always angry and they will get even with you if they can.

Give it a day
 

You may have done enough damage that the nest will die out. More of them will be dying over the next few days. You may not need to re-apply the poison.

I had a ground hornet nest in a path through the woods on our property. I usually do not like to kill things but after my dog and myself got stung a few times I got pissed and poured some gas in the nest and lit it. Haven't had a problem since. The sting from these guys seems to be worse than other wasps and hornets.

make em sit through a Michigan game....they'll kill themselves...problem solved.

my grandfather would just shoot a can of ether down the hole then fill it with gas and pour a lead trail off, lite the trail and leave.

Get some smokers (boxes that exude smoke) or smoke bombs and put them around the hive.... if you get the smoke bomb balls drop a few lit ones in the opening....... let the smoke do it's thing for about 10 minutes.

The smoke will draw them out and poison the ground to them while not hurting anything else.

You can do this any time of day or night, try during night when all are in the nest. If you use smoke boxes, get truly smoky first, cover your clothes and any exposed skin, with it's smell. If you use smoke bombs throw them ahead of you and walk through them. This will help keep you from being attacked.

5th grade Summer, I watched my best friend's dad do this and have since seen it work a few times.

The battle continues...
 

My dad and I actually made some headway...we thought. We dug up the nest and sprayed it with some more pesticide. We were surprised at how big it was. It was a little smaller than a basketball.

The nest is in shambles, yet once again, when we woke up this morning the hornets were still flying around!! We couldn't believe it. The whole nest is destroyed and drenched in pesticide and yet they are still present

The only conclusion is that the workers must be living somewhere else because they aren't staying in the nest. I just don't know where the hell they are coming from. Anyway, I don't foresee them sticking around much longer. I will check again tomorrow and keep you all posted.

I just dealt with this myself
 

I just dealt with this myself.

Here's an eco friendly way to get rid of them:

Take a large Gatorade bottle or milk jug.
Cut the top 2/3 off
Put some leftover chicken, bacon grease, or whatever in the bottom half to attract the buggers
remove the lid from the top half.
Fit the top half inside the bottom half and seal the seam up with tape.

Wait until dark when they are all in the nest and place the trap over the hole. You might want to pack sand or dirt around it so they an't escape around the bottom.

During the day they will fly out of the nest and into the funnel. Once inside the jug, though they won't be able to get out.

I did this last week and within 2 days had trapped several hundred of them. You can tell when the nest is about to die out becasue the large queens and drones start appearing in the trap.

getting rid of ground hornets
 

I've delt with these assholes a couple times wait untill dark pour some gas down the hole . I use a beerbottle empty it out then light the m f r you wiil have a hole to fill in next year from where the nest was but its worth it every 2 yrs I go through this on my property just got stung by one today thkin care of bus. right now :thumbsup:

---------- Post added at 05:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:51 PM ----------

The deed is done none escaped poured gas down using the beer bottle the flame is localised to the hole its self as its burning take a stick and break thru the nest wall. As long as you have flame nothing can fly out and sting you.

ground hornet? you mean Yellow Jackets?

i dont know about other places, but here in the south east those things can be vicious. when i lived in central florida a neighbor of mine dismounted his tractor only to fall into a yellow jacket next. those nasty little things actually KILLED him. thousands upon thousands of stings.

personally, i'd buy and super insecticide, a few wasp traps, or call a professional.

edit: i took this off of Getridofthings.com (awesome)

I had one these and wimped out and called an exterminator. The dude was stung twice himself. He pumped about 20 gallons of pesticide into the hole. When he dug the nest up it was about the size of a deflated basketball. Too many dead hornets to count. These little devils were so agressive they would chase you down if you ventured near the entrance hole. I was going to try pouring gas down the hole but they were still buzzing around after dark. Only charged me 25 bucks. IMO a bargain!

Diesel always works better than gasoline. Doesn't evaporate as quickly, sticks to their waxy exoskeleton and wicks right down their tracheoles causing a nearly instant death.

I imagine if you know a welder, a light dose of argon down the hole at night would wipe them out. Argon is heavier than air so it would just fill up the hole and drown them, basically. A CO2/argon mix would work the same. That's the typical gas combo used for mig welders.

If you want to make sure the argon trick works, cut a 2 liter bottle in half, burn a hole in the side of the bottom half, tape the tube to it (or hot glue if you want a more permanent device) and slam it over the hole, pushing it into the ground. After that, start your gas feed.

Also, do this late at night, like midnight. Insects are dependent on external warmth and will be least active at night.

Oh, and make sure there isn't a second escape hole ;)

On a calm evening place dry ice on top of the hole and cover with a bucket. The dry ice will seek the lowest levels and sufficate the bastards with no fire, pesticides or other nasty things.

I've used the foaming hornet spray that they sell at Lowes several times successfully. It's the stuff in an aerosol can that can shoot 25 feet. I found the best time, or at least most convenient for me, was to spray the entrance to the nest early in the morning. It's the temperature, not the light, that that makes them inactive and early morning before the temperature starts going up is when they are the least active, I've found.

You don't have to use the whole can at one time -- it doesn't do anything more after you have put the fumes in and around the hole. I have watched hornets coming back to the nest plunge right into the foam and die. They're instinct-driven. After a while, I'll spray some more and catch the ones that were outside the nest that come back and buzz around the hole. In a few days, all signs of them are gone. So gasoline, no fire . . . and no stings!

This stuff also works great for the little hives you see being build under eaves, etc. One shot usually is enough for those. Your mileage may vary.......

Also, those yellow plastic traps work well to get rid of the pests that bother you when you're trying to enjoy a meal on the patio or sit outside. I have tried all kinds of homemade baits (sugar water, apple juice, etc.), but the most effective by far is the attractant they sell to be used with these traps. Put it on a cotton ball and it works for several weeks. I've dumped trapsful of dead bees, mostly hornets, without having to change the cotton ball.

This sounds crazy but I've killed out nests several times with this method.

1. Get a clear (not frosted, not decorated) large vase with a top opening in the 4 inch range.

2. Locate the nest opening during the day light hours. This should be done at a distance, but you'll see where the lil buggers are going in and out.

3. After dark place the vase open side down over the opening of the nest. You'll want to ensure good contact with the ground. Maybe even place some mud around the base.

4. Wait a couple of days. This works because the yellow jackets will dig a new escape route if the primary route is plugged (This is the one you covered with the vase) however if the primary hole is still intact (as is yours) the yellow jackets will fly out into the vase and begin to look for food for the nest. Because they see day light they will not realize the hole is covered. This is their universe. The fail to find food and the nest will die out very quickly.

Try it you'll like it ;^)

Denny

^^^ This.^^^ . . . . if it's a small enough hole, or a large enough pile of dry ice.

The hornet spray you buy at Home Depot is really nothing more than diesel fuel under pressure. It's a lot cheaper to just fill a small can at the gas station.