Found while hunting......

[johnwilliamson062]

If you are going to do something illegal and stupid, just make sure you videotape it so we can all have a good laugh. The prosecutor will thank you also.

[schutzen]

If you really want that hornets nest, this works. Get a 55 gallon heavy duty drum liner (4-6 mil thick), at wire tie, and a bug bomb that will kill hornets.
At night, carefully trim the supporting limb back to the point you can slip the drum liner over the nest. Draw the top of the drum liner around the supporting limb, activate the bug bomb and drop it into the drum liner. Wire tie the drum liner shut against the supporting tree limb. Come back the next day to collect your nest. You need to do this at night or the "guard hornets" will really get your attention. Just another country hick's 2 cents worth.

PS; This works well for the guys up north too. It is really good insurance that the “dead” hornets nest is really dead before you bring it inside.

[Powderman]

Be real careful.

You don't want to disturb the nest and have a bunch of them coming out at you. Here's a picture of a Hornet with its stinger deployed, in the process of striking!



Hornets move really fast, and their stings can be downright painful and sometimes fatal.

[thallub]

Leave thet hornet's nest alone.

Went to a one room school in WV for 6 years. Our teacher was a witch: She would fly off the handle and beat butts for no good reason. She was especially hard on my brother and I. It was near Halloween and she demanded that my brother and I help with decorating the school.

As we walked over the hill to school we one morning we took the huge bald Hornet's nest from a tree with about three feet of the branch it was hanging on. There had been several frosts at that time.

Everything went neat at school until about 09:30 when the hornets warmed up. We got a two day vacation from school until the exterminators could get there to take care of the hornets. Yep, teach got nailed a few times when she tried to get the nest out of the building.

[bswiv]

Well.....................

Have done some more research on the nest issue.

What I found is that they are abandoned some time during the winter, even in NE Fl. That being the case it seems a good plan to go check it in a couple of weeks, maybe after we've had a hard freeze or two, and see if it's still active.

And I'll admit that it never occured to me that it might be against FWC regulations to harvest a nest, even though in retrospect it does make sense that if it's still active that would constitute a violation of some sort. So what I'll do is, while I'm waiting for the nest to become inactive, I will get ahold of the FWC officer that works the area and see what he says.

If he says no then that's the end of it.

If he says yes then I'll let you know how it all turns out.

[bswiv]

This from the University of Florida web site..........."

See the last couple of lines. Seems they really do abandon the nest in the fall, at least according to the folks at UF. That being the case, and knowing that the nest, once abandoned and no longer afforded the upkeep needed by the hornets will quickly deterorate, it seems reasonable that the FWC officer should let it be collected. Will have to ask..............

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Colonies are founded in the spring by a single queen that mated the previous fall and overwintered as an adult, usually under the bark of a log. Nests may be aerial or terrestrial, depending in part upon the species of the wasp. Some species may construct both types of nest. Regardless of location, each nest is a series of horizontal combs completely surrounded by a paper envelope. Initially, the solitary queen must not only construct the paper brood cells, but also forage for food, lay eggs, feed her progeny, and defend the next from intruders. When the first offspring emerge as adults they assume all tasks except egg laying. The queen devotes the remainder of her life to this task and does not leave the nest again. For most of the season the colony consists of sterile worker females which are noticeably smaller than the queen. Each worker tends to persist at a given task, such as nest building or feeding larvae, for a given day, but may change tasks if the need arises. Working habits apparently are not associated with age as they are in the honeybee. Workers progressively feed larvae a diet of masticated flesh of adult and immature insects, other arthropods, and fresh carrion. Lepidopterous larvae appear to be a favorite food. In autumn, larger cells are constructed for the crop of new queens. Larvae in these cells receive more food than do those in normal cells. At the same time, the queen begins to lay unfertilized or male eggs in either large or small cells. After emergence, the new queens mate and seek shelter for the winter. These will be the founders of next spring's colonies. The old founder queen dies, and the workers begin to behave erratically until social order breaks down. With winter's arrival, the remaining colony dies.

[publius]

I think schutzen's idea is the best. My grandfather had a big one in his office that had been given to him. I think he said the person who gave it to him "smoked" the few hornets that were in the nest in the winter out with a torch soaked with burnt motor oil. The hornets just fell harmlessly to the ground in the cold ???

[grymster2007]

Macho as I may seem I can scream, squeal and run like a girl!

What? I thought that was SOP for you!

[guntotin_fool]

try a smoky fire under the nest. I found a rag soaked in brake fluid smoldered and made a ton of smoke, placed inside a coffee can, it will drive them away so you can move or destroy the nest.

[phil mcwilliam]

My favorite tried & proven method for dealing with hornets nests is as others have said - wait till its dark when their not active. I grab a can of ordinary fly spray & a cigarette lighter. A good couple of seconds blast with this flame thrower generally renders the entire nest empty. Then go about removing it. Be careful.

[jdscholer]

Darn! A shotgun, plenty of ammo, and nothing to shoot. Wait a minute; that basket ball sized hornet's nest looks like a fun target! One round of #6 shot at about 20 yards should do it.

Now I suppose we're going to start the debate on what firearm, caliber, bullet weight, shot size, etc. is adequate to safely hunt hornet nests. I'm in.
My vote is for nothing less than 12 ga., with #9 shot. The more the better. jd

[vytoland]

I just have to do this thing

sounds like a great idea.........those hornets are much smaller than you are..........nothing more than a tiny pin prick.......you just knock that nest down and show em who is the boss..........and remember a REAL man does not run from danger

[Pathfinder45]

If you get into this over your head you could get seriously hurt. Wait 'til the nest is abandoned if you must have it.

[johnnypi45]

Now I suppose we're going to start the debate on what firearm, caliber, bullet weight, shot size, etc. is adequate to safely hunt hornet nests.

Rifle:

My friends, I propose that the proper hornet hunting firearm be any centerfire caliber rifle, capable of greater than 150 yrd. MOA.

Tactics:

-From at least 150 yrds off, shoot branch leading to hornet nest. A challenging shot for most, this is what separates a good hornet hunter from a great one.
-Ensure that the hornet nest has in fact fallen to the ground.
-Also ensure that the hornet nest has fallen onto the strategically placed pound of tannerite
-Shoot tannerite.....
-Pray all hornets are DRT and not ****** off...
-So goes hornet hunting.........


Petey