Has anyone tried using carbide (that substance cave explorers use in
their lamps)?  Seems if a carbide generator was set over one of the nest
exits, its vapors would penetrate the nest, do the dirty deed, and not be
nearly as environmentally harmful as gasoline.  Then for fun, after about
an hour of generation, you could light the nest off with a match and what
the fumes didn't kill, the concusion would.   MIKE STOOPS   [log in to unmask]
 
On Wed, 24 May 1995, John E III Taylor wrote:
 
> Casey Burns noted:
>
> > Many years ago, a friend of mine had to remove a ground hornet nest. He
> > tried all of the common pesticides, as well as pouring gasoline down the
> > several exit holes, and setting it ablaze. Nothing much happened except
> > the hornets getting angrier.
>
>     My own experience has been that gasoline does a better job if you _don't_
> set it ablaze.  Left in liquid form, it vaporizes, and the vapors penetrate
> downward into the nest, doing a fair (but not great) job of killing yellow
> jackets (only thing I've tried it on).  If you light the vapors, what doesn't
> immediately burn gets sucked upwards into the flame, and doesn't do its job down
> in the bowels of the nest.
>
>     However, gasoline poured into the ground is environmentally unacceptable
> nowadays.  The shop vac sounds like an interesting alternative (but _two
> weeks_?)
>
> John E. Taylor III     W3ZID     | "The opinions expressed are those of the
> E-Mail: [log in to unmask]      | writer and not of Rohm and Haas Company."
>