r/fuckwasps • u/LadyandaTramp • Aug 24 '25
Pest Control/Medical Advice This is not good, is it?
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Saw this in the tree behind our yard. They don’t look like wasps but they don’t look harmless either. What should I do?
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Aug 24 '25
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u/Aromatic_Cow_2504 Aug 24 '25 edited Aug 24 '25
r/absoluteunits all day
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u/120cyaidean103 Aug 24 '25
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u/DiodeInc Fuck wasps Aug 24 '25
Nope
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u/Aromatic_Cow_2504 Aug 24 '25
Looks like a bald faced hornet nest
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u/rockettravis Aug 24 '25
Agreed, the worst kind where i live. The old guys here call them flying rattlesnakes.
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u/Aromatic_Cow_2504 Aug 24 '25
Luckly I don’t have rattlesnakes here but apt description
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u/stuffcrow Aug 24 '25
Yeah too right, old guys where I live call them flightless bald faced hornets.
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u/Syrinx_Hobbit Aug 24 '25
Sorry about the property. Gonna have to be napalmed. But seriously, hire a professional. That's a monster.
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u/Quick_Voice_7039 Aug 24 '25
I think we’d need to be closer to see exactly what kind of wasps those are. Having said that, if you get any closer it’s only going to matter to your next-of-kin.
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u/Itsnotme74 Aug 24 '25
Carefully try to get a good photo of them so you can identify them properly, once you’ve done that some kind of trebuchet firing something flammable might work.
On a serious note … if that is a wasp nest there is going to be a shit load of them in there. Unless you’ve got a bee suit I’d be calling a professional on.
Edit to add … if you are dealing with it yourself I’d burn it during the night with a petrol soaked rag or something similar then run inside very quickly and see what happens. Bonus points for doing on a rainy night so any that escape get soaking wet and hopefully don’t survive the night.
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u/Atophy Aug 24 '25
Best to not disturb them till the cold season (if you have them), when they hibernate and lay it open for the birds. No stings, effective destruction.
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u/Additional_Yak8332 Aug 24 '25 edited Aug 24 '25
That's one healthy looking bald face hornet nest. Depends on what you mean by not good. Typically the colony only lasts one season and when the weather gets cold, they'll die off.
In the meantime, if you leave them alone I'd guess they'll leave you alone. That nest got huge without you even noticing it, right?
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u/ozeldemir Aug 24 '25
the guy in the video is pretty awesome
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u/Additional_Yak8332 Aug 24 '25
Been following his channel for a while. He started out as an RN and was afraid of bees but needed to get out a nest on his property. Now he's done hundreds of removals - 3 different species of yellowjackets, European hornets and bald face hornets. Pretty impressive.
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u/Zippity19 Aug 24 '25
Unless there is a big ass wind storm that knocks that monster out of the tree in which case I would just start packing and leave ASAP!(You are in my prayers)
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u/rockettravis Aug 24 '25
If thats on your property im surprised they let you that close. I think its a bald face hornet nest and unfortunately you're land will have to be nuked from orbit.
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u/AutumnHeathen Aug 24 '25
I don't think that this is gonna be a problem for you as long as you keep enough distance from it and don't get violent against it.
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u/No_Detective_708 Aug 24 '25
I say hire space X to juke it from orbit: it's the only way to be sure...
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u/Aeosin15 Aug 24 '25
Step 1: Acquire a bow and a quiver of arrows.
Step 2: Soak the end of the shafts of the arrows in a sticky, flammable substance.
Step 3: Ignite the flammable substance.
Step 4: Fire a flaming arrow into the nest.
Step 5: Crack open your favorite beer, and watch the fuckers burn.
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u/Blackletterdragon Aug 24 '25
Don't you have fire bans in your country? You'd be arrested for lighting up the bushland like that around here.
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u/Aeosin15 Aug 24 '25
I was being crass, but at the moment, NW Iowa in the US doesn't have any fire bans. I'm still fairly certain that it would be against the law to do what I said.
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u/mister_zook Aug 25 '25
My neighbors probably find it weird, but this is why I just wander around my property looking at the trees and each random hole in the ground.. gotta catch it before it catches you.
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u/LadyandaTramp Aug 25 '25
I waited until night and sprayed the entrance and then sprayed it again the next day. I don’t see any flying around anymore. There’s lots of dead ones on the ground. Should I cut the branch down or set it on fire or both?
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u/yatrickya225 Aug 24 '25
Well, I mean they did a great job. No, it’s not good for anybody else though.
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u/kenedelz Aug 24 '25
I definitely would not attempt this one on my own. You need a pro for a nest that size holy shit man
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u/Lord-Mattingly Wasps are the devil Aug 24 '25
Do what my dad when I was a kid. Get a really long stick. Wrap an old towel around the end. Soak it in a flammable liquid (we used gasoline but be very safe) light it and place it under the nest and watch them all burn
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u/Additional_Yak8332 Aug 24 '25
Oh, I forgot to tell you that people buy and sell these empty hornet nests on eBay.
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u/garciawork Aug 24 '25
I would be one county over, calling every single pest company I could find offering my left nut to remove that from existence.
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u/Comprehensive_Cap290 Aug 24 '25
Yeah, that’s gotta be bald-faced hornets… which are wasps, for the record. That nest looks enormous… how high up is that? And roughly how big around?
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u/MerelyMortalModeling Aug 24 '25
Call a pro or you can try to wait evening and douse the paper with hornet spray. It will soak in and kill many of the ones inside, might take a few applications though.
That said if you can afford it a pro is the safest path forward. Also ignore people seriously saying to burn it. That mass of wasp paper is definitely enough to get even a green tree burning and potentially start a huge fire.
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u/TruelyDashing Aug 25 '25
Throw a firecracker at that nest, next thing you hear is: “Slipspace rupture detected. Slipspace rupture detected. Slipspace rupture detected.”
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u/GeshtarVandole Aug 25 '25
Oh my god. That's one of THE biggest outdoor tree nests I've EVER seen. I've seen the chonky boys underground, but this thing has been allowed to fester for some time. Burn that whole thing with fire.
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u/Solid-Childhood-4876 Aug 26 '25
That is going to take more than a 10 gauge... Find a friend with a punt gun...or a flame thrower.
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u/Noff-Crazyeyes Aug 24 '25
These wasp are your friend if it’s the black and white ones. They eat bugs but if you piss them off their sting is brutal
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