# Hornet's Nests



## Bow Only (Nov 25, 2011)

I've hit the motherload of hornet's nests this year and found 2 big ones and a little one.  What is the best way to get them without causing "an incident?"  On one note, the one I checked did still have hornets in it and I can still run as fast as I used too.


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## fishfryer (Nov 25, 2011)

The weather hasn't been cold enough yet. Late January or February would be more appropriate.


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## doofus (Nov 25, 2011)

when it gets really cold (below freezing). go out before daylight with a big garbage bag and some gasoline in a small bottle..if its low enough slip the bag over the nest, pour in a little gas and wire the bag shut....leave it til afternoon then carefully cut the limb off and remove the bag...hang it outside till the gas fumes dissapate all the hornets should be in the bag...watch it for a couple of days while it airs out cause the last thing you want is a house full of upset bugs with high powered weapons....


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## Bow Only (Nov 26, 2011)

doofus said:


> when it gets really cold (below freezing). go out before daylight with a big garbage bag and some gasoline in a small bottle..if its low enough slip the bag over the nest, pour in a little gas and wire the bag shut....leave it til afternoon then carefully cut the limb off and remove the bag...hang it outside till the gas fumes dissapate all the hornets should be in the bag...watch it for a couple of days while it airs out cause the last thing you want is a house full of upset bugs with high powered weapons....



Won't the gas dissolve the garbage bag?  All three nests I can reach from the ground.


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## Gaswamp (Nov 26, 2011)

Matt, just go out on any cold day below 35 and get the nest and put in a garbage bag.  Then all you need to do is put in a freezer for 24 hrs.  No gas or chemicals needed


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## doofus (Nov 26, 2011)

i used the big landscaper commercial bags and had no trouble....if you freeze 'em it's warm enough in the nest it'll take a year to kill 'em all...they're ready to go dormant this time of year anyway...they can survive a heck of a long time in freezing weather...


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## pine nut (Nov 26, 2011)

doofus said:


> i used the big landscaper commercial bags and had no trouble....if you freeze 'em it's warm enough in the nest it'll take a year to kill 'em all...they're ready to go dormant this time of year anyway...they can survive a heck of a long time in freezing weather...



Doesn't seem right, but I believe it because even catalpa worms can survive a freezer for months if packed in cornmeal in a jar.  They look dead until you put a hook in them!  creeps me out but they are alive and still good bait!


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## LKennamer (Nov 26, 2011)

*ditto the freezer*

Putting the bag in the freezer is a good way to get them out of the nest without an 'incident', but as soon as they warm up they will reanimate (they will still be alive, don't ask me how, but I found out the hard way once!), so you will need to dispose of them as you remove them (cut a small flap on one side so you can get to them.  Afterwards, treating the nest with a spray of polyurethane will help preserve it.


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## Gaswamp (Nov 27, 2011)

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bhornets.html


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## Capt Quirk (Nov 27, 2011)

I have seen fake nests for sale. The theory is, hornets are territorial, and will move to a new area. It is much easier to take the nest without them in it.


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## Bow Only (Nov 28, 2011)

I guess I picked a bad time to fill both my freezers.


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## Bow Only (Dec 2, 2011)

I'm on fire!  I found another big one yesterday.  I can't find a big buck but I can sure as heck find big hornet's nests.


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## fishfryer (Dec 2, 2011)

Bow Only said:


> I'm on fire!  I found another big one yesterday.  I can't find a big buck but I can sure as heck find big hornet's nests.



You can get a buzz out of that!


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## Les Miles (Dec 2, 2011)

Bow Only said:


> I've hit the motherload of hornet's nests this year and found 2 big ones and a little one.  What is the best way to get them without causing "an incident?"  On one note, the one I checked did still have hornets in it and I can still run as fast as I used too.



Wait till around noon on a nice warm day and go beat on the nest with a short stick. They'll all fall out of the nest dead...

Also, it helps to wear a white t-shirt and shorts while doing this. It makes you invisible to the hornets.


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## Mac (Dec 2, 2011)

I have several, any ideas on how to perserve after you get them?


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## Bow Only (Dec 2, 2011)

Les Miles said:


> Wait till around noon on a nice warm day and go beat on the nest with a short stick. They'll all fall out of the nest dead...
> 
> Also, it helps to wear a white t-shirt and shorts while doing this. It makes you invisible to the hornets.



I was thinking of wearing flip flops too.


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## Bow Only (Dec 2, 2011)

Mac said:


> I have several, any ideas on how to perserve after you get them?



I've got one that is 20 years old and it's still in good shape.


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## rydert (Dec 2, 2011)

Les Miles said:


> Wait till around noon on a nice warm day and go beat on the nest with a short stick. They'll all fall out of the nest dead...
> 
> Also, it helps to wear a white t-shirt and shorts while doing this. It makes you invisible to the hornets.



THIS IS INCORRECT!!!!

 they will not fall out dead....you have to stab them with a toothpick when they come out
shirt is optional


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## mgh2008 (Dec 6, 2011)

i used ether and a bag once and it worked quite well
the freezer method is the best


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## bronco611 (Dec 6, 2011)

the best way to get a hornets nest without incident to yourself is to get another sucker to go fetch it for you!!


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## Bow Only (Dec 17, 2011)

I got two of them.  The small one was empty but the one a little bigger had somehornets in it.  I bagged it up and 3 or 4 came out in the bag.  Hornets are bigger than I remember them being.  I went to get the huge nest but it was too warm and the hornets didn't want to give it up yet.  Two down, two to go.


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## GA DAWG (Dec 17, 2011)

I got a huge one in Feb a few yrs ago. Would just barely fit in one side of my full size heratige dog box. I wrapped it in a bag and put it on my dresser. I opened it up 3 or 4 months later and had a dozen dead hornets in the bag. Great bigguns! Be careful.. I was shooting one down once. Just thought it was cold enough. Was not. Hornets sting pretty bad.


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## lcopeland22 (Dec 19, 2011)

I was tracking a doe I shot with my bow about 15 years ago and was following blood crawling through some thick pines and looked down and remember thinking oh ---- theres a hornet right in front of my face.  Then bam, he hit me on my eyelid and I swear to you  it felt like I got hit with a 2x4.  It knocked me slap out and I woke up on my back with small drops of rain hitting me in the face.  When I met up with my hunting buddy he almost took me to the hospital because my eye was swollen shut and I had hives all over the upper part of my body.  We waited a little while and got the deer though. True story,  good luck with those nests, your a brave man.


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## dawg2 (Dec 19, 2011)

Mac said:


> I have several, any ideas on how to perserve after you get them?



I spray them with hairspray.  It dries flat and invisible, but keeps edges from fraying. 
If you can get it in a freezer, they will die in a few days.  Or, bag it and stick it in your attic for a few weeks they will die from dehydration/starvation.


I suggest getting them at night.  Oh yeah, they still will fly and get you at night and a white flashlight gives them a "beacon."  Use a red filter and work fast.


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## Mac (Dec 20, 2011)

dawg2 said:


> I spray them with hairspray.  It dries flat and invisible, but keeps edges from fraying.
> .



Thanks,  good idea


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## yote killa (Jan 8, 2012)

We had one the size of a basketball. We shot it with our bows for a few days then we all learned our lesson the hard way. My dad got it in the eye younger bro got it in the arm not a fun afternoon.


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## Gumbo1 (Jan 8, 2012)

Mac said:


> I have several, any ideas on how to perserve after you get them?



Do NOTHING to it. Just hang inside away from where people can touch it. Leave it as is and it will last for years. Trust me.


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## Old Winchesters (Jan 8, 2012)

Warm day and wasp spray into the entrance they fall out. bag it at least a couple weeks in the freezer.... I have gotten a few this way..


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## Bow Only (Jan 16, 2012)

Only a Southerner would appreciate this, but as a Christmas present, I gave my Dad the biggest one.  I got it when it was cold and double bagged it.  I gave him the bag and said, "Here's one of your Christmas presents, don't shake it or open it for about 3 months."  

As a side note, your wife won't be too happy about taking a hornet's nest (filled with hornets) in her new vehicle.  Can you imagine that scene if they would have gotten out?


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## saltysenior (Jan 16, 2012)

messin' with big foot ,black panthers,rattlers,gators,and other things in the woods that people worry about, do not even come close to the dangers of collecting a hornet's nest..............i found out the hard way.


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## Sugar Plum (Jan 16, 2012)

Bow Only said:


> Only a Southerner would appreciate this, but as a Christmas present, I gave my Dad the biggest one.  I got it when it was cold and double bagged it.  I gave him the bag and said, "Here's one of your Christmas presents, don't shake it or open it for about 3 months."
> 
> As a side note, your wife won't be too happy about taking a hornet's nest (filled with hornets) in her new vehicle.  Can you imagine that scene if they would have gotten out?






Oh my! I bet she was THRILLED.


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## shakey gizzard (Jan 16, 2012)

I'am assumin these are Bald Faced Hornets? Why kill them, they are a" good" bug! Open the bag(after cutting branch) on a rainy day or high humidity and release them!


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## rigderunner (Jan 24, 2012)

saltysenior said:


> messin' with big foot ,black panthers,rattlers,gators,and other things in the woods that people worry about, do not even come close to the dangers of collecting a hornet's nest..............i found out the hard way.



yep i once knew a guy who did the garbage bag freezing and lettin them go in the rain and come spring the eggs hatched and he had a house full of ticked  off hornets


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