NationStates Jolt Archive

Good day to you, NSG!

So my roommate and I have had three hornets in our apartment (loft apartment above our landlord's house) in the last two days. I'm really super allergic to stinging insects, so ignoring this is not an option. I walked around the building looking for a nest, but I didn't find anything. I think they might have gotten into the wood, and I want to call an exterminator. He's against this idea. So I really have two questions:
1.) Would they maybe be in the wood?
2.) How the hell do I convince him we need to take care of this?
Thanks and have a great day! [I can't check this for about nine hours because I'm off to work (a blissfully hornet-free zone).]

Do you leave your doors or windows open? That might be how you got three of them.

Get your roomie to kill them for you -- or tell the landlord and ask if he can send the exterminator around.

So far as I know, doors and windows stay shut and have good screens. I'm out eight or nine hours a day, so there's not constant monitoring. My roomie and landlord are walking the property today to see if they can find the nest.

2.) How the hell do I convince him we need to take care of this?


tell him:
I'm really super allergic to stinging insects

And keep your epipen on you.

I have two suggestions, both of which involve tormenting the buggers because frankly, they deserve it.

1 - set up a cup with sugar an water. They are drawn to the scent. Make many of these and when you see one in it, put a lid on the cup and watch it slowly drowns to death!!

2 - Get a spritzer of water (though personally I prefer Windex or something similar) and when you see it, spray it! Drench its wings! Watch as it falls to the ground, writhing! Then spray it a little more just to be sure. Once it's down, torment it a little then kill it... slowly.

^_^

If you're not home all the time, I recommend #2. Just keep your bottle handy and be ready to spray. A spritzer with water works on pigeons, it'll work on a few little hornets.

I have two suggestions, both of which involve tormenting the buggers because frankly, they deserve it.

1 - set up a cup with sugar an water. They are drawn to the scent. Make many of these and when you see one in it, put a lid on the cup and watch it slowly drowns to death!!

2 - Get a spritzer of water (though personally I prefer Windex or something similar) and when you see it, spray it! Drench its wings! Watch as it falls to the ground, writhing! Then spray it a little more just to be sure. Once it's down, torment it a little then kill it... slowly.

^_^

If you're not home all the time, I recommend #2. Just keep your bottle handy and be ready to spray. A spritzer with water works on pigeons, it'll work on a few little hornets.

That's what I usually do with any flying bugs.

Fire. Lots of fire.

Enough so we don't get another one of these LJ posts on general.

2 - Get a spritzer of water (though personally I prefer Windex or something similar) and when you see it, spray it! Drench its wings! Watch as it falls to the ground, writhing! Then spray it a little more just to be sure. Once it's down, torment it a little then kill it... slowly.


i love to do that with moths, flies and occasionally bees. wasps scare me too much (i run away...)

but i like to do it with spray bleach. evil stuff. melts them slowly. i love it ;)

That's what I usually do with any flying bugs.

i love to do that with moths, flies and occasionally bees. wasps scare me too much (i run away...)

but i like to do it with spray bleach. evil stuff. melts them slowly. i love it ;)

My favourite part is watching them writhe on the floor. I usually laughed like a maniac and yet for some reason my husband thinks this makes me a sadistic bitch. :D

Spraying bleach... I never thought of that. That's a good one.

2.) How the hell do I convince him we need to take care of this?


Use a twenty gauge to get rid of them....

Use a twenty gauge to get rid of them....

That's overkill. :p

My favourite part is watching them writhe on the floor. I usually laughed like a maniac and yet for some reason my husband thinks this makes me a sadistic bitch. :D

Spraying bleach... I never thought of that. That's a good one.
lol, i don't think my g/f approves all that much of my enjoyment of their suffering either.

but then i do usually feel a little guilty afterwards, so that makes up for it :p


(some way of spraying glue (like PVA) would be awesome btw)

That's overkill. :p

More fun to stand about 50 feet away with some big old bottle rockets and trying to blow up the nest.

Just because you didn't see any nests doesn't mean they aren't there. If the hornets aren't actually creating nests attached to the underside of the roof/balcony or what have you, they may be nesting in the ground. If there are any small holes in the siding of your building, they can be in there too.

The wood siding...that could be tough to patch up. If it was just a whole, putting silicone into the hole at night would seal them up and kill them off (well okay they'd starve to death). Duct tape works too.

That's overkill. :p

Rule 37: There is no overkill. There is only "Open fire" and "Time to reload."

Rule 37: There is no overkill. There is only "Open fire" and "Time to reload."

What happened to rules 1-36? Or did we forget how to count? :p

That's overkill. :p

Rule 37: There is no overkill. There is only "Open fire" and "Time to reload."

What happened to rules 1-36? Or did we forget how to count? :p

Rule 11: Everything is air-droppable at least once.

Or, if you don't like that:

Rule 4: Close air support covereth a multitude of sins.

Good day to you, NSG!

So my roommate and I have had three hornets in our apartment (loft apartment above our landlord's house) in the last two days. I'm really super allergic to stinging insects, so ignoring this is not an option. I walked around the building looking for a nest, but I didn't find anything. I think they might have gotten into the wood, and I want to call an exterminator. He's against this idea. So I really have two questions:
1.) Would they maybe be in the wood?
2.) How the hell do I convince him we need to take care of this?
Thanks and have a great day! [I can't check this for about nine hours because I'm off to work (a blissfully hornet-free zone).]

You've got three Hornets in your room? Can they fit? :confused:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/USMC_FA-18_Hornet.JPEG/800px-USMC_FA-18_Hornet.JPEG

That was a bad joke, I admit.

I wouldn't worry too much unless you start seeing Kato around the house. Then it looks serious.

nest seems small try http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Wasp-Trap

should still work while the nest is small.

I want to call an exterminator. He's against this idea.

The nest might be inside. I once had a wasp hive over the window, in the box of the "tapparella" ("tapparella"... how I am going to translate this, as the translators are totally useless... it's a sort of semi-rigid wooden window screen which can be rolled up or down, very popular in Italy)

Anyway don't waste money with a professional exterminator for just three hornets. Buy insect spray (strong enough, tell the grocer you have to kill hornets not mosquitoes), spray the whole house before going to work, go. When you come back, if the hornets were inside, they will be dead. Remember to OPEN ALL THE WINDOWS AND WAIT AT LEAST HALF AN HOUR BEFORE STAYING INSIDE, when you come back.

We (I) use to have an electric tennis racket thing made for bug-zapping. It was really good for killing mosiqotes, and made wasp death slow and sizzling. Burt wasp dosen't smell all that bad, really.

Fire. Lots of fire.

Enough so we don't get another one of these LJ posts on general.

From what i hear fire actually enrages them, so this might not be the best idea.
Get your roommate to locate the nest or 'spike', if it's outside then you can use a spray can of stuff which kills them off (in UK there's raid not sure about US but i'm certain there must be some insect destroyer things somewhere).

If you fail to take them out, it might be wise to get a pest control person to deal with the problem.
wiki says this
Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans. The hornet alarm pheromone is used to raise alarm of nest attack, and to identify prey, for example bees [5]. It is not advisable to kill a hornet anywhere near a nest, as the distress signal can trigger the entire nest to attack. Materials that come in contact with pheromone, such as clothes, skin, dead prey or hornets, must be removed from the vicinity of the hornets nest. Perfumes, and other volatile chemicals can be falsely identified as pheromone by the hornets and trigger attack.


[edit] Actions to avoid
Disturbing a nest (including vibrations and loud noises)
Being within a few meters of a nest
Disturbing or killing a hornet within a few meters of a nest
Blocking the path of a hornet
Breathing on the nest or hornet
Rapid air movements among many other interesting facts.

and i found this site
http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-hornets.htm
seems to make sense.

Set yer attic on fire, that simple. Blame it on some drunkard breaking into your house, and claim on insurance.

That's overkill. :p

Nothing is overkill when dealing with the godless, warmongering insect menace.