Saturday I was walking around the corner of the house and spotted a hornets nest that was about the size of a gallon milk jug. There were several bees swarming around it, so I thought I had better back away from it for the day. I know from experience that the best time to kill hornets is after dark.
The wife, daughter, and I got in the car to go pick up a few things from the store. A brand new can of Raid Hornet spray was at the top of my list. At $5 a can the stuff definitely isn’t cheap, but it kills the little bastards on contact.
The hole was in the side of the nest, and I knew that all I had to do was spray the Raid into the hole. The bees would not be able to escape, and I would have very little risk of getting stung. So, I waited until dark, and then the massacre began. I used the whole can on the nest, and not a single bee escaped out of the hole.
Sunday morning I went out to examine the fallout. (I should have took some pics of the nest before I tore it down, but I forgot. :))
Here is about half of the nest laying on the ground after I ripped it from the eve:(click photos to enlarge)
Here is part of the comb. You can see one of the little bastards getting ready to emerge (off center to the right:)
One more photo of what they died trying to protect:
I dug around in the mess looking for the queen, the whole time thinking that she would be about twice the size of the other hornets. I never did find any one single bee that was considerably larger than the rest of them. I don’t know if I just overlooked her, or if she somehow managed to escape. I wasn’t very thorough in my search, so it’s very likely I just missed her. There is something about poking around in a pile of 100 or so bees that gives me the willies, no matter if they are dead or not.
Eww… that picture is real gross. I hate hornets by the way. The sting could always have a chance to kill. Lucky there are no hornets in my area. Lolx.
Anyway great post!!
Way ta go!
😳
Could have been a lot worse. At least you had some spray to work with. And yes, hornets are definitely a bitch. But they do serve a purpose.
Shine on,
aARON
Btw, hey buddy!
I know this is quite off topic, but I finally published a Blogroll…and included you in it. I used “The WVb” as the anchor text, so let me know if you prefer something different. 😎
Shine on,
Aaron
They can serve all the purpose they want…as long as it is 100+ feet away from my house. 🙂
Actually, I would like for the anchor text to be West Virginia. Thanks!