In the summer, the owners of private houses often suffer from such a problem as hornets’ nests on the site. These insects have a large size. Being far from their shelter, they rarely attack, but they can easily show aggression if a person suddenly appears near the nest. Tree hollows and attics are their favorite places. If you see a nest of hornets in your attic or in the country, you should not panic. There are many ways to eliminate such a mess. It is not at all necessary to wait for these nasty insects to bite. Experts tell how to remove a hornet’s nest.
Hornets like any areas where precipitation does not penetrate. So it is extremely difficult to find their house. As a rule, the dwelling of hornets is revealed when a person is near it. Then unpleasant insects fly out of the house to chase away the enemy from their territory.
Gardeners and gardeners are well aware that hornets benefit the plot of land, destroying many pests on it. Every year, these predatory insects collect several hundred caterpillars and bugs. However, beekeepers have to deal with hornets, as they hunt honey bees. They often destroy whole hives, stealing honey from there.
It must be said that insect poison can cause severe allergies. During an attack by a large number of predators, a fatal outcome is possible. Bites pose the greatest threat to pregnant women, children and people suffering from bronchial asthma. If even a small amount of poison gets into the blood, it can cause pulmonary edema.
An allergic reaction often causes anaphylactic shock. Multiple bites even in a healthy person can cause the development of kidney failure. In such cases, a person needs urgent medical help. If timely measures are not taken, the consequences can be deplorable.
Nest location
Before destroying a hornet’s nest, it must first be found. To find the habitat of predators, you can lure them with a small piece of meat, fish or fruit. Then the insects will fly to the treat and begin to travel between the found food and their shelter. It will not be difficult to follow them. It is worth considering that they can create a nest in a variety of places:
- on the loggia or balcony;
- in an unrooted stump;
- in leaves of trees and bushes;
- in the attic and under the roof;
- behind the cladding of the building;
- in the burrow of animals;
- in household and utility rooms;
- in the hollow
Having found a home of hornets, it must not be destroyed under any circumstances. Aggressive insects can attack even with artificial light at night. A huge number of its inhabitants can fly to protect the nest, it all depends on the size of the colony that settled there.
The dwelling of representatives of the wasp family looks like a small house, the floors of which are connected by small supports. Insects build a dense cocoon with vents around the nest. Between the outer paper layer and the honeycombs there are special pockets where predators gather during the day.
Mounting foam, boiling water and kerosene
Mounting foam is perfect for destroying a hornet’s nest. It is necessary to cover all the holes in the found nest with it. So, flying bugs will remain sealed inside their house without access to oxygen. A clogged object can be burned or simply thrown away.
There is also a less safe method, which involves placing the nest in boiling water or water with the addition of kerosene. It is necessary to lift up the bucket with the prepared liquid and, so to speak, put it directly on the discovered hive. It is necessary to make sure that it is completely under water. It is important to fix the bucket with the hornets’ house in one position. It can be hung from the ceiling or supported by a ladder. After a day, the insect housing is disconnected and taken out of the room directly into the container.
If the colony settled in a hole underground, the easiest way is to fill their shelter with boiling water or make a bonfire in this place, slightly undermining the entrance to the house. You can also fill the “underground” dwelling with kerosene, set it on fire, and then cover it up.
Trap based on glue, dummy
A glue trap can be purchased or made with your own hands. For this, you will need cardboard and special glue, for example, RaTrap or Alt composition is suitable. Coat a sheet of paper with adhesive. The layer should not be too thin, but not too thick. In order for the insects to fall into the trap, you need to put a bait in the middle:
- meat;
- fish;
- rotten fruit
Such a trap has the following principle of operation: hornets fly to the treat, sit on the cardboard and stick to its surface. They cannot free themselves and die. When the paper is full of pests, all that remains is to throw it away. If you want to remove a hornet’s nest from the attic in the fall or at another time of the year, you can place several similar cardboard boxes there. This will allow you to quickly get rid of hated pests.
Now you can find special models of nests on sale. If you put them in the attic, they will scare away insects that do not settle near another swarm.
In addition, one of the enemies of hornets is a bat, so it is quite possible to use scaring devices that emit ultrasound and scare away pests.
Insecticide aerosol, fire extinguisher, vacuum cleaner
The easiest way to get rid of a nest of pests is with the help of an insecticidal aerosol. Now you can find a wide variety of drugs on sale:
- Lambda Zone;
- karbofos;
- Geth;
- Executioner.
As a rule, about three vials are needed. It is necessary to process the inner cavity of the nest through the entrance hole. After the procedure, you should go away from this place and do not touch it for several days. During this time, individuals that did not spend the night in it will return to the nest. As a result, they will also be destroyed. It is advisable to burn the insect house.
You can treat the place where hornets live with foam from a fire extinguisher. It is important to make sure that all the honeycombs get wet. Then the inhabitants of the nest will freeze, and this will make it possible to tear the insect home from the base and destroy it.
If the hornets chose a place on a tree, you can eliminate their house by burning it. For this, you will need to use gasoline or kerosene. When carrying out such manipulations, it is important not to forget about caution in order not to suffer from fire.
If you want to get rid of pests that have settled in the hollow of a tree with a narrow entrance, you need to use a chemical. The poisonous substance is poured inside, after which all available holes are carefully plugged.
There is another reliable way. You can eliminate the habitat of dangerous insects by using a large plastic bag and an insecticide. It is necessary to let the chemical inside, and then wrap or cover the nest, trying to seal it. This method is perfect for those who need to drive hornets out of their own home. If the housing is not round in shape and is located in an inconvenient place, you need to pull the bag over the nesting place, gluing its top with tape.
If you have a vacuum cleaner, you can simply suck up pests with it. Of course, predators will begin to actively attack, but they will not succeed, because they will be in a long hose. It is advisable to make a small bend on it so that the hornets hit. This will not lead to their destruction, but will provoke a decrease in activity and aggression. At the end of the procedure, you should take out the bag from the vacuum cleaner and burn it or trample it.
Sulfur gas
If insects are found inside a wooden structure, it is best to remove them by fumigating with sulfur gas. To get it, you will need an ordinary sulfur checker, which is used for processing storage rooms and cellars in the country.
It is necessary to place the checker in a metal container, set it on fire and place it in the shed where the hornet shelter was found. All gaps must be closed with paper or rags. This is necessary so that sulfurous gas does not evaporate through the holes and insects do not fly out. After treating the room, it is important not to open it during the day.
If it is difficult to get to the home of hornets or it is impossible to do it, getting rid of the scourge will not be such an easy task. For some time, it will be necessary to accustom the flying creatures to get food in a certain place by placing some minced meat there. When the insects begin to confidently visit the bait, poison should be added to the treat, for example:
- Aktara.
- Parisian greenery.
- Diclofos.
Predators will take poisonous food to the colony and destroy the queen and larvae themselves. Thus, the birth of new individuals will be stopped, the working members of the colony will die from poison or naturally, since their life span is no more than a week.
In winter, insect colonies usually die. With the arrival of spring, females, as a rule, begin to look for a place that would be suitable for the formation of a colony. Instead of thinking about ways to deal with hornets in the summer, it is best to prevent them from settling in the area.
Whichever method is chosen, it is important to know that it is best to deal with hornets during the dark hours of the day, when they are least active. It is a common belief that these insects sleep at night, but in reality this is not the case. They can rest or do some of their own business. When exterminating the house, you need to use the flashlight very carefully, because these predators do not react well to any change in lighting.
Preventive measures
To distract the female from searching for a place suitable for building a nest, it is necessary to use a trap made of an ordinary plastic container. You should cut off the top half, turn it over, and pour homemade kvass, brew, jam or beer with a small amount of sugar on the bottom. Pleasant aromas will definitely attract insects. Once inside the bottle, they will no longer be able to get out of it. Hornets caught in this way will remain in the trap until the man kills them.
A bucket of water into which vinegar and soap is poured is also used as a trap. Predators flock to the smell, and then drown, being unable to save themselves.
In order to prevent the emergence of a colony of predatory creatures near the house, it is necessary to carefully inspect all possible places of their habitat before the arrival of heat. Nests found during this period can be easily removed and burned, without fear of an attack by pesky insects. It is advisable to cover hollows in trees near the house with boiling water, to get rid of unnecessary junk in attics and sheds, where hornets can find shelter.
Holes and crevices in the walls of buildings are attractive areas for creating nests. It is desirable to cover them with gypsum plaster or cement. Clay solution is not used, as it is ideal for building nests.
When cutting the branches of fruit trees, in no case should they be stacked on the site. Such piles of wood material can make the choice of a predatory insect for the arrangement of its colony.
At first, the nest looks like a small walnut. As long as it is small, it can be easily torn off using a shovel or some other tool. After that, the house should be crushed or burned.
Thus, there are a wide variety of ways to remove a hornet’s nest and destroy it. To prevent an unpleasant neighborhood, it is necessary to eliminate all places near the house that are suitable for insects to live.