Jason "Vespid" Buchanan wrote:

> I discovered last night that a hornet had decided to build a nest near my
> sliding glass door in the back of the house.


As it turns out, there were a lot more than just 1 lone wolf hanging
around up there.  There were about a dozen on the nest and another 10-20
or more standing watch...


Last night after work I carefully opened the sliding glass door again to
verify that the hornet and nest was still there and to my surprise I
found "a big mass of white and black" aware of the door being opened.
Thanks to the help of the list members I decided not to use an
insecticide but instead some household bathroom cleaner in a spray
bottle.  My wife doesn't think name-brand cleaners are worth the extra
price so the Brand X soap scum remover in a 409-type bottle set to spray
a "stream" did the trick.  They just fell straight down to the floor.  I
went outside to clean up the rest of the dead ones and discovered that
there were another dozen or so that were sitting on top of the sliding
door between the door and the jamb who decided to come out and play -
they were quickly dispatched by the Brand X cleaner as well.


I think I counted somewhere around 20 of them when it was all said and
done.  The size of the nest went from a half inch to about 1 inch in the
space of 20 hours.


I'm glad I found them when I did - they most certainly would have
wreaked much havoc today because we're having a small deck party later
today and that door is the main thoroughfare between the deck and the
kitchen.  I'm really glad I didn't use Sevin or a commercial
insecticide.   Many thanks to the patient readers of the list (and Aaron
too!)



regards,
Jason

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::