As the Wasp season moves into full swing, we start getting the dreaded Hornets Nest calls. This week I have treated quite a few and each one was in a really tricky place.
So how do you know if you have a Hornets Nest? Well firstly, they are about 4- 5 times bigger than a wasp, the numbers are much fewer, and then there is the noise – it sounds like a helicopter coming in to land!
I would suggest that even the most battle hardened DIY Wasp nest destroyer does not attempt to do a Hornets Nest! When annoyed, they are just plain mean….and take no prisoners!!
One particularly nasty one this week was on a roof where the building had an extension, so to get to it you first had to go onto the flat roof, then with crawling boards and a second ladder go up one more story, to another gutter walk way. The client has been up here many times and had the route off to a tee, but when the Hornets use this as a runway to the nest, which was tucked up under the tiles out of view, its a different matter.
Having looked at this route, I decided that this nest was probably accessible from within the loft space, so before starting any Indiana Jones manoeuvres over the roof, I checked out the nest access from inside. Sure enough, there was a good portion of the nest clearly visible but the loft void was extremely small so access was also a bit of a problem.
So I decided that I would do it from both the inside and the outside to make sure it was fully treated. As I stuck the lance into the nest from the loft, they got a little angry and started to come for me, so a quick exit from the loft was in order. Then up onto the roof. By now, they were very angry, so thankfully my trusted extension poles did their job so I didn’t have to get too close.
I do feel a little sorry for Hornets as they do get a lot of bad press. They are pretty docile in comparison to wasps and don’t make a nuisance of themselves really – but if you touch the nest – watch out as they pack a serious punch. They still need to be controlled, so if you have a Hornets Nest, please contact us so we can sort it out for you.
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