Neighbors tree has a wasp nest in it

[morehops52]

My first thought... wadding! It's not real big and I think I can get it with my pole cutter. I live in the NE and it's been down to the 20's. Are there any precautions I need to take once I get it on the ground ?

 

[jackpine54]

Tie it up in a trash bag and leave it there until you're ready to disassemble it. Then do that on a cold day. I've grabbed them in summer using the trash bag early in the morning. I throw them in the freezer for a few days and they're pretty much all dead. Nice score!

 

[Notchy Bob]

Is it a wasp nest or a hornet nest? Florida (where I live) is obviously very different from western Pennsylvania, but down here, wasps usually build honeycomb-like paper nests in protected places, like under eaves of buildings. There is a type of wasp that likes to build nests in the open, over water, in aquatic shrubs and sawgrass flats, but the more common wasps don't often nest in trees where I live. Hornets' nests are uncommon here, but I have seen a few. These are gray to gray-brown and sort of globe or egg-shaped, from about the size of a person's head up to half a bushel. The outside is a weatherproof paper-like substance that the hornets make, and the cells where they keep the brood are inside and out of sight.

Wasp nest is rather fragile. Once you get it on the ground, try to move it to a different location. I doubt you'll have live brood or larvae in it this time of year, but if there are any, they make good bream bait. You'll want to get 'em out of there, anyway, because they will turn into wasps if you don't. I've knocked down many a wasp nest and just picked it up. The wasps tend to keep flying around the area where the nest had been.

Hornet nests are a different matter. If you have a "live" hornet nest, you're on your own! I've never messed with one that had live hornets, but I have found a couple that had been abandoned. The paper outside covering of these makes good wadding. Wasp nest makes good wadding, too, but it's different. More compressible.

Good luck!

Notchy Bob

 

[deerstalkert]

give me your lat and long. i bet my wife could hit it with her spray can from here! the wasp nests here are soaked down as soon as they take shape. she calls me to bring my shotgun for the big hornet nests.
this time of year they are pretty safe. if in doubt toss them into a plastic bag and give them a shot of starting fluid. don't smoke while this is done.
i gathered a coffee can full of the wasp nests this year and have 2 balls sighted. the balls sometimes sell on ebay for good money.

 

[morehops52]

Is it a wasp nest or a hornet nest? Florida (where I live) is obviously very different from western Pennsylvania, but down here, wasps usually build honeycomb-like paper nests in protected places, like under eaves of buildings. There is a type of wasp that likes to build nests in the open, over water, in aquatic shrubs and sawgrass flats, but the more common wasps don't often nest in trees where I live. Hornets' nests are uncommon here, but I have seen a few. These are gray to gray-brown and sort of globe or egg-shaped, from about the size of a person's head up to half a bushel. The outside is a weatherproof paper-like substance that the hornets make, and the cells where they keep the brood are inside and out of sight.

Wasp nest is rather fragile. Once you get it on the ground, try to move it to a different location. I doubt you'll have live brood or larvae in it this time of year, but if there are any, they make good bream bait. You'll want to get 'em out of there, anyway, because they will turn into wasps if you don't. I've knocked down many a wasp nest and just picked it up. The wasps tend to keep flying around the area where the nest had been.

Hornet nests are a different matter. If you have a "live" hornet nest, you're on your own! I've never messed with one that had live hornets, but I have found a couple that had been abandoned. The paper outside covering of these makes good wadding. Wasp nest makes good wadding, too, but it's different. More compressible.

Good luck!

Notchy Bob

Excellent advice and thank you. I don't know what the heck is there. It's what folks around here generically call a paper wasp nest. What I know about these type critters amounts to bees, wasps, and yellow jackets. I actually don't expect anything left in the nest in December but I still intend to bring it down on a cold day. I guess if i take it apart when it's 30 or below anything in there ain't gonna be moving to fast.

 

[TDM]

Photos???

 

[jackpine54]

If it's in a tree it should be hornets. We call them bald faced hornets around here. Those are the ones I put in trash bag. They have a pretty vicious sting, like getting rammed by a hot pole barn spike. So be careful with them. I usually get 4-5 nests every summer and only get stung a couple times. Shouldn't be an issue in winter

 

[oldwood]

Give the nest a shot of bug spray , if'in ya need the wadding right away. . Don't bring it in the house , 'till u're sure the inhabitants are dead. If ya aren't in a hurry , let the nest where it hangs , and don't spray it , During the winter, little birds will open up the entrance hole , and get the wasp maggots to eat for winter food.

 

[necchi]

Are there any precautions I need to take once I get it on the ground ?

Nope yer good.
But there are precautions before ya bring it inside!
Your right, break it open cold,, just peel, thick layers, shake the critters out,, you'll see'm. They ain't dead, they sleepin, prepped for spring temps.
If any of them cells have caps on'm,, break those off and get them critters out too,, do it when it's cold out side and yer all good..
Point is, if you warm that thing up,, you might be in for a surprise in few days.

 

[Ames]

Wait for winter (you did) and just take it down.
Hornets die off at the end of the season. Only the mated queen survives. She does so by burying herself in leaf litter in mild areas, or underground in harsh areas. Once she emerges in the spring she will build a few cells, raise a few workers, and get them going on building a new nest. It would be very rare that they would come back to repair the delicate nest she left last fall. They may, however, return to the same spot to start a new nest.
Hope this helps.

 

[hanshi]

I've picked up a few wasp nests over the years and hornet nests if they aren't too high. I've found that by late fall and certainly by winter hornets & wasps do appear to die off since I've never been stung while collecting.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I've waited long enough for a yellow jacket nest in a tree to be safe before I got it and the thing got destroyed by a winter rain and wind storm.

 

[Red Dirt Dave]

A hornet's nest (and often a paper wasp nest) will usually have two holes in it. One high on a side and one in the bottom. They don't fly out at night unless you spend too much time with your flashlight on them. After dark I take two chunks of duct tape and cover both holes and then cut all the branches that they have encompassed with the nest. Trash bag and into the freezer for a day or so, and them disassemble the nest. I often call whatever local college to see if their entomology department wants the dead residents. They will usually send someone to get them.

 

[rickpa]

I have a friend who ran across a hornet's nest in winter while deer hunting. He thought it would make a nice decoration for the den so he cut the branch and took it home. In about two hours he had a house full of angry hornets. Took him two days before he could return home after calling an exterminator. Some of them might die off but there's enough left that don't die to make your life hell, if your wife doesn't anyway after making her leave the house for several days. Wait till it's cold, bag it and tear apart outside while it's cold would be my advice.

 

[mahd776]

I have a big bald faced hornets nest hanging in my den. Its about 30 inches tall and 18 inches across. Have had it many years. Cut it down on a cold fall day. Put it in a large black plastic garbage bag in the back of my jeep. The hornets were starting to get active by the time I made the short drive home. I opened the bag just enough to spray wasp and hornet killer inside. Sealed bag back up and put in freezer for several days....no more live hornets! These hornets can inflict a painfull sting and if allergic can be deadly. Son-in-law got stung by a couple while mowing couple years ago. Had a severe allergic reaction. EMT's gave him a epipen shot and took him to hospital where he recieved another.

 

[RicM]

Great info on this thread, I never tried using a wasp nest before. I frequently hike the mountain areas in Hudson Valley NY with a few friends and always camera packed. Back late summer we ran across this active nest. Stayed way clear took a few pics marked the location. Its not too far in on a trail about 8-10 feet up on branches of small trees, used a 400mm zoom lense, no way I wanted to get close. I plan on heading back once the temps are in constant 20 degees or lower and try using it for my first time. If its still there Ill give it a go. Haven't a clue the type of bees, just know that they must hurt pretty bad. I hate bees, been stung many occasions as a kid.

 

[Ames]

I keep bees, and you get used to the occasional stings. Takes cool nerves to keep working a hive slowly when one slips inside your veil!
Your pic looks like bald face hornets. Real bad to mess with. Go back when temps are in the teens, and you should be fine. I would expect to find it on the ground at that point. Weather and critters are picking it apart already.
Bag it and tie it shut.

 

[F.G. Ford]

With wasps or hornets a cup full of diesel fuel kills them dead.
Throw the diesel on it today, come back tomorrow and they are all dead. With the diesel fuel on the outside, the workers carry it inside the nest and kill the rest.
In a few days the diesel fuel dries up and it is safe.
On contact it knocks the wasps and hornets to the ground.

 

[fishmusic]

The use of these nests for wadding is new to me. Wouldn't tow be safer?

 

[Ames]

Not as much fun!