themajor

An angry hornet or hornets will take little notice how far away you are and will attack. You have been warned.

Pulaski

I have read the warning on the can, and use it as per the directions. I have used the spray maybe a dozen times, and never experienced a hint of a problem.

I don't recall seeing this type of spray in the UK ..... then again I never saw the types of wasps I see in the US in the UK either! So maybe you are unfamiliar with the sort of jet spray that a can of wasp and hornet killer produces? It is not a gas/aerosol (fine mist) spray; the effect is more akin to hosing down the nest with liquid insecticide.

Also most nests here in my area at least, are "open", not having an outer shroud, so you can see, and spray directly, all the wasps. I have a couple of nests on the shelf in the garage, so I will post a picture later. The large nest I referred to above was shrouded, but I was able to get enough spray into the nest entrance to wipe out the inhabitants.

Yorkieabroad

On the odd occasion I've used them, there has always been an evacuation route prepared in advance, and after hitting the nest, I'm pretty sure even the Husain Bolt of the hornet world couldn't have got to me. Probably not even the HB of the human world! I must look like a right dildo when I do it, but I hate hornets....sneaky little bastards got me right between my shoulders a couple of years back when I was cutting some Palm fronds.....didn't even have the decency to buzz me or anything

themajor

Thank you for the explanation. I however do not live any longer in the UK. Like you I am a retired Military Commissioned Officer and have lived and travelled extensively around the world including the U.S.A.

No offence was meant

Cheers

Yorkieabroad

I've used them a few times too....always just when I've found them starting to build a nest...hit it early before too many of them start to call it home. If I found anything that looked like it might be a multi family nest, I'd be calling in the pros ( see earlier post for measurement of my yellow streak when it comes to stinging bugs)

Pulaski

Yeah, catching them early is the trick. The one I got a few weeks ago was a single cell/ single wasp, right over the door! It was the only time I recall dealing with a nest during daylight.

Jerseygirl

Me too. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with the pesky things...they were building nests all over the place. They got their building materials nearby...water from the pool...wood from the deck. One year we didn't open the pool...I don't think we had one nest.

Jerseygirl

Careful...insubordination will get you court marshaled.

Yorkieabroad

I do my own pest control, so include a regular inspection of the house, and, touchwood, nothing has grown too big so far...I've always managed to catch them early. Further out from the house I don't inspect so closely....that's my danger zone....plus the travel trailer....I found a large one being built under one of the back beams of the travel trailer when I activated it for first trip of the year a couple of years ago. It obviously wasn't built to hurricane code, because I just ignored it and when we got to that nights destination, it was no longer a problem

Pulaski

Me too. The only exception I experienced, referred to above, was one that a neighbour let get to a fair size and shrouded. I agreed to go after dark and deal with it. I don't remember what happened to the nest; I wish I had kept it.

Manjo

Were they bees or wasps? Bees are nice so you should get them relocated professionally, plus they're diminishing in population. Kill all wasps.

rbackhouse

So you are a waspist ?

Pulaski

Oh, they were definitely wasps.

I have never seen swarming bees. We do get some carpenter bees, which are solitary and destructive. The spray that the "pest services" use discourages them.

Weeze

I've seen swarming bees. It's terrifying. I remember being a late teenager and my dad was outside cutting the front grass. It was like a huge cloud started dropping into the back garden. Then they started hitting the windows at the back of the house. I went screaming to the front of the house to get my dad and the dog in. By the time he came in (he was very slow) they had mostly settled. They had coved a huge stone ornamental bird bath and made it about three times the size. We phoned someone for advice, don't remember if it was the council bug people or a pest control company. They said their hive would have been disturbed so the worker bees would be helping the queen move by protecting her. They said to avoid the area for a few hours as they would be resting before moving on. We went out for a while, came back a few hours later and there were only a handful of bees left. For a few weeks there were always bees in the bird bath, presumably because a queen bee had been there.

Pulaski

A couple of nights ago I dispatched another wasp nest, this time up under the eaves, about 18ft above the ground, but inconveniently located above the porch. I considered climbing up on the porch roof to get closer, but decided against it becuase of the inherent difficulty in making a rapid departure in the event that became necessary.

I waited until after dark, proped a ladder against the porch, and equipped myself with a torch in my left hand and wasp spray capable of projecting a 20ft jet of insecticide in my right hand. It just took a few seconds, and most of the wasps on the "open" nest, perhaps a couple of dozen of them, were left dying on the porch roof.

So that's another successful mission completed.