Holy chit, remember those insanely vicious giant asian hornets Jay told us about?

Timely topic as i was bee suited up this am killing wasps. I always have them really bad here, like they will build nests in your fuel cap on a daily driver bad. I wonder if fipronil works on them. You can mix it with a meat bait like tuna, they come and feed it to the hive, a few days later they all die, without even locating the nest. Awesome for controlling social wasps, aka the assholes
 
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Did ya read where their stinger will penetrate your bee suit
 
Yeah. frig that shit. But if they are scavengers, like other hornets, yellowjackets, and paper wasps, baiting them with that stuff will kill them (if they are in scavenging mode, aka summer). Since I became allergic i went all in hardcore adhd style and learned all sorts of stuff about my enemy. Learned that the solitary wasps won't sting, learned the airplane sized cicada killers won't sting, and learned the different species of social wasps in my area. Since i have random equipment, vehicles, and pipe everywhere (likely their favorite housing site), and work in locations that will literally have hundreds of wasps flying everywhere i researched all of the ways to kill them. I used to not mess with them at all, to the point where yellowjackets took over my sailboat back when i was single/ no kids and had the time to take it out, but couldn't because of nests. Here's a few things I've learned, which would be applicable everywhere.

First, it's the social wasps that will sting you. They defend their nests, the mud daubers will just kill bugs, so you leave them alone. Killing them early in the year is best, because they are less aggressive because they are trying to find secluded spots to nest, and they don't have worker females built up yet (the only ones that sting, of course the males are too cool :/:). Soap, especially dish soap, is extremely effective, as all bugs breathe through their exoskeleton, so really sudsy stuff will suffocate them and not allow them to fly. The coolest story i have about killing them is when i read this, drank my courage up a bit, and drug my boat to a car wash at 3 am, selected the soap spray, and filled my aluminum sailboat mast up. No kidding thousands of yellowjackets flushed out the other end stone dead, filling the 6 foot cockpit. Pyrethrins are the standard in wasp spray, which are either derived from the chrysanthemum plants or are synthetic derivatives of it. They provide instant knockdown to all species.

I mix my own spray in a pump sprayer, demonmax, Taurus sc, and dish soap. Each of the listed insecticides can be found on Amazon for about 30 bucks a pint (several years worth). I double the recommendations, but I'm certain it's overkill. I spray only the nests, or likely nesting areas (which i have tons on my property). Usually by this time of year in Illinois, my sailboat would have over 20 nests, the chipper would have around 10, each welder would have half a dozen or so, every truck would have the same, e.t.c. The soap and demonmax instantly kill them, the Taurus sc is residual, and anything that crawls through it will kill the entire nest. You obviously need to be careful you aren't spraying anywhere near where bees or bumblebees will go, but spraying that shit will clear em out like nothing else. I've never tried using the Taurus sc for baiting them, but everything I've read leads me to believe that it's effective beyond your expectations, i guess studies have shown 95 percent of all nests that could travel there to forage are dead in a week, 99 percent in a month. I understand many here will balk at that, but the reality is that wasps not only prey on bees, but they often have their numbers greatly inflated due to invasive species, so killing them before the end of the year when they reproduce is likely better for the ecosystem.
 
Oh yes they are, terrifying. The "scavenger" thing means that they will feed on meat or carrion that they didn't themselves necessarily kill, so technically just about everything including humans fits the bill. Social wasps bother your summer bbq because they are drawn to the meat, which while they can't actually eat it themselves they feed it to the larvae which essentially shits out a sugar liquid that the adults feed on. This is why they won't bother your spring bbq, but late summer they show up in droves. If they do, then baiting them will work in most situations, fruit orchards being an exception because there is far too much sweet food for them to eat, so they don't care simply because if sheer volume. That's my understanding of how the fipronil works. I've noticed if i spray wood that the wasps or hornets are using to build their nest (aka simply landing on), it takes a few days, but they just all disappear. Very very potent chemical, and it's linked to sudden bee colony collapse, mainly because farmers were spraying entire acreages with the stuff. I guess i was trying to say that if they are similar to all other social wasps, then hopefully they will start using fipronil bait stations aggressively to eliminate them.
 
Hard to do here. We have carpenter and small wood boring bees we rely on for pollination. Would probably do them in as well.
I have an oak out back that is very interesting. The little boring bees and sap suckers make holes in the limbs, and the other bees and pollinating wasps drink from them. About the only moisture about with sugars in the middle of summer.
 
Oh, that's nice. With luck, I'll be dead before they get to the east coast.


Ahhhh, ...unless there is another hornet the size of that I think I already saw many of those in Maryland several years ago when I worked there for a couple of weeks. Is it possible there is some other hornet that looks about like that?
 
We also have European hornets. I've written here about about my adventures with them, but after seeing the murder hornet, the Euros aren't really so bad at all.
 
Kyle, everybody but those who use it are in agreement that sudden colony collapse is caused by neonicotinoids.
 
Oh, and on the subject of cicada killers... I once was helping a friend cut his English ivy lined walk. Imo, a tiller is the best tool, but I was using hedge trimmers :^P I was sitting on the walk, a cicada killer flew in, dropped into the ivy, then flew away with a cicada in his grasp. Pretty cool to see.
 
Speak of the devils... My first one this year. This one's on the small side...

20200503_134109.jpg
 
That one was kinda little, but I suspect a full grown hornet might :^P

That was the first weapon I saw. Echo, more than just a chainsaw®
 
It took just a few years for the regular asian hornet (not the giant one) to invade our country from a single nest hidden in a terracotta pot from a sea container.
They are smaller that our european hornets, but more aggressive. They make a big spherical nest usually hight in the trees (but not always). We lost the battle to eradicate it. There's just way too much areas out of sight to watch over. Now it's everywhere. A big concern for the tree guys.

I know that the USA fought the african bees years ago. What's the situation now about that?
 
Just heard a report on radio NPR this evening about this beastie having been found in British Columbia, and now just a few weeks ago in northern Washington state. Apparently these buggers are hell on honey bees, which puts the shit on a whole raft of agricultural benefits honey bees provide, let alone our sweet NW honey.

Full on attempts to set traps to capture emerging queens, to be followed by a different type of traps for drones.

I expect no better results than so many other efforts at putting the invasive species genie back in the bottle that we have seen before. Frankly, zero success. I'd so love to be wrong.
 
It took just a few years for the regular asian hornet (not the giant one) to invade our country from a single nest hidden in a terracotta pot from a sea container.
They are smaller that our european hornets, but more aggressive. They make a big spherical nest usually hight in the trees (but not always). We lost the battle to eradicate it. There's just way too much areas out of sight to watch over. Now it's everywhere. A big concern for the tree guys.

I know that the USA fought the african bees years ago. What's the situation now about that?


Had a close thing with those Asians last summer, got right up a spruce before seeing the active nest, came back down very carefully before calling the exterminator.

Guy near me very nearly killed by them, spent a long time in hospital, went blind for a while.
 
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Just heard a report on radio NPR this evening about this beastie having been found in British Columbia...

Um, the OP.

Mick that is scary. How'd the exterminator get to them?
 
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