I am pretty ignorant about identifying these things. I believe the bald faced hornet is the one I called the brother of yellow jackets. I’d say the sting carries about double the dose of yellow jackets.
I thought the narrow waste defined wasps and the picture of the bald faced hornet has a narrow waste, but I’m ignorant at categorizing them but pretty experienced at being stung because I work everyday outdoors in trees likely to have nests. I cross paths with paper nests about a half dozen times a year.
My grandpa cut down a sapling that had a bald face hornet nest in it. He got stung several times in the face. I saw him a couple of hours afterwards and he was so swelled it didnt even look like the same person. Ouch!! I have managed to avoid getting stung by a hornet to this point in my life. It is my understanding it us more painful than a bee or wasp
I think the bald-faced hornet is not actually a true hornet and is instead a type of wasp(something like how squash and green beans are usually thought of as vegetables but technically are actually fruits), although the European hornet is.
Bald-faced hornets live across most of the US and much of Canada and are most common in the southeast, which IIRC is where you are from.
Off topic, but the real nightmare insect among them all is the Asian giant hornet; it’s nicknamed the “yak-killer hornet” and the “giant sparrow bee.” Among wasps, hornets, and bees, it’s the only one capable of killing a non-allergic human being with a single sting. A news story entitled “China hornets kill 41 in north since July” and dated October 3, 2013 (see www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-24367050) reports on the unfortunate consequences of hornet-friendly summer weather.
Auburn,
Tell your war stories under the heading of I can’t believe I did something that stupid. I’d love to hear yours and tell mine. Any story about baldies will be great!!
Chikn
I bumped a bush that had a bald faced hornets nest in it. It was by my garden hose reel. I ended up with a twisted ankle, two bloody knees and a bloody elbow. They are real bad asses!
When I was a kid I strapped a pack of fire crackers to the end of a broomstick, lit them, and jammed them into a bald hornets nest. Needless to say I didn’t run fast enough…
this is my honey bee story. I was a complete novice and had only read a couple of short overviews about beekeeping. I told a friend of mine that I was going to build a bee hive and get some bees. A few days later he called and said a friend of a friend had a swarm of bees at their house. It was fall, bees here don’t normally swarm in the fall. I did not know this yet. I went to their house and the bee " swarm " was on the second floor of the rock chimney. there was a balcony from the second floor bedroom that was right below the “swarm” of bees. “how long have the swarm of bees been there?” “oh, I don’t know , all summer”. Bees don’t hang in a swarm all summer. I climb up an 8 foot step ladder on the second floor balcony. For protection I have a long sleeved shirt and leather gloves. the hive in the chimney was over heating from the afternoon sun and the swarm of bees was actually just several thousand bees hanging out at the entrance trying to cool the hive. I took my bee brush and brushed a wad of bees into my cardboard box. I immediately realized there was something wrong. The bees should have been docile and in a swarm state, but these bees attacked. I tried to calmly climb down off of the ladder. I slipped back into the house with only a handful of bees still stinging me and made a less than graceful exit from the horrific situation. When I got home my wife pulled 26 stingers just from the back of my neck. I later caught several true swarms of bees and was never stung. That was a real learning experience.
Second year at the country club in my hometown and I’m assigned to get rid of a very large baldie nest over the bridge that starts the back nine. So I grab Kevin(smart a** punk) and tell him we’re going to burn the nest with a long 2x4 and rags on the end dipped in gas. He was going to light the fire and burn the hornets while I drove the truckster. He thought this would be great fun and started to help. We got down there, lit the rags on fire and he hit that nest with that 2x4 like a ball bat! For weeks rich golfers were getting stung.
A little useful information about hornets. I successfully eradicated two nest by this method. Get one can of wasp spray, the kind that shoots about twenty feet. Get in your truck/car with the spray and drive directly in front of the nest. Roll your window down just enough to accurately am the stream at the nest entrance and fire away. This is when you need steady nerves and a accurate shot. Shoot directly into the opening of the nest. This is when they will attempt to come out and after you. The spray will kill all of them if your nerves can handle the pressure. By the way your backup plan if your aim is not good is to rapidly roll your window up and drive like h— to somewhere away from your house. They will follow you even if your in a vehicle.
I am one of those very, very fortunate gardeners who has only been stung twice in her life (and that’s a LOT of decades, folks). And, neither time while gardening. The first time I got stung, I was in high school, and driving my car in town (Huntington Beach to be exact.) Had my window down, minding my own business when a bee got sucked into the car, which pissed him off pretty bad. He made a beeline (sorry, couldn’t resist) for my thigh (summertime, and in short shorts of course). It was everything I could do not to crash the car. I at least had the good sense to know that once stung, that was it. So, I was able to keep my cool, not drive myself into another car or into a ditch, and make it home to put a cold compress on the sting and take some aspirin and some Benadryl (just in case). The second time I got stung, was a little more unpleasant. I was up in N. California doing some whitewater rafting in the summer. Now in college. We have a big issue here in California with Yellow Jackets (wasps). They like to hang around trashcans, park benches, etc. I had just gotten out of the raft, was in my bathing suit and proceeded to sit down on the picnic bench. And, right on a yellow jacket. My leg and groin got SO swollen and it hurt like a mother. 100 times more painful that the little bee sting. Yellow Jackets can make enormous nests, they are horrid. And so aggressive.
Yellow jackets get real aggressive in the fall when sugars start to run out. I can’t even walk out in my back yard with a beer or pop in the fall they just swarm to it. A coworker drinking out of a super big gulp with the big straw sucked a yellow jacket and got stung in his throat. He choked, gagged, and was rolling around on the ground. I thought for sure I was going to have to take him to the hospital, or cut a hole in so he could breath. Thank god he stood up and was able to over come it!
I ended up in the ER a couple of years ago from a sting. It was a fall day when they supposedly get more defensive. I have always swelled a bit from bee stings but this was unreal. I got stung in the deltoid (upper outer arm). We were driving to our HMO when I realized I felt I needed help sooner and luckily the nearby children’s hospital saw me and gave me good care. I now have an Epi pen handy. Just wanted to warn folks who might also be prone to allergic reactions. Especially beware late Summer to mid Fall.
Carole
Quill,
My wife bugged me for weeks for a sting from a honeybee for artharitis(can’t spell) in her hand. She turned purple head-toe before the doc got it under control. That and my sons allergy to bee venom is why I’m not a beekeeper any more. When you start having breathing problems from a sting, you have about 10 minutes to get into the er. Serious stuff
Chikn
My helper (the word does not do him justice- I also call him our companies vice president) was stung by a bald faced hornet while pruning a crab-apple tree yesterday. The nest in the tree was quite large and it was the middle of a hot day. I had a full can of wasp spray in my truck missing its’ spray cap and two other caps on different cans failed to make a fit. I resorted to my second method of wasp nest removal which maybe should be my first.
There was a nearby hose and I keep a nice brass hose nozzle with me that can be adjusted to a very strong spray stream. The water, like most water at places I work, is from a deep well, so it gets very cold when you let it run, even in mid-summer. Standing about 15’ back I just blasted that nest to oblivion. Wasps hit by the water were immobilized by the cold- I stamped a few on the ground that threatened brush removal work. I also stamped the remains of the nest.
We were able to complete the pruning job and the owner considers me a hero. People tend to be terrified of the things. The nest was right next to their swimming pool so I felt no pangs of conscience eliminating it.
Bald faced hornets keep hornets flying around nests at about 15-30’. Hard won info, that! Even with the cold water surprised you didn’t garner more attention. On the golf course, our preferred method was gasoline soaked rags on a long 2x4. Kept us outta the firing line and solved the problem quickly, except for the time we burnt down the topdressing shed.
There were still a few flying around but not certain enough we were the perps to sting anyone. Same thing happens when you use poison, some keep circling but once the nest is gone we don’t get stung- so far, at least, and there have been many such nests over the years. The labels on the cans always say to be sure to do it when it is cool- like in early morning, but that just isn’t very practical when you are in the middle of a job.
Anyone that is brave enough to do this to a live hornet nest is a hero in my eyes. Apparently your method works. I would rather take 20 honeybee stings than one from hornet. If I had been your VP I would have been in the truck with the windows rolled up while this was going on. Have a great day Alan. Bill
Angelo is tough as they come and pound for pound the strongest man alive (my biased assessment, of course, but he’s never missed a day of work for years). He never even stopped pruning the tree, just told me about the nest and worked further from the hive until my work was done.
When you prune big apple trees for the lions share of your living you are bound to get used to dealing with all manner of wasps. Perfect trees for nests. The worst thing is to be 40 feet up and disturb a nest you hadn’t noticed until the first sting. The retreat has to be made with care.
