We were out in the yard about four days ago, and if this thing was there, I sure didn't see it--and it's hard to miss, hanging out in the open about 10' from our kids' play structure. And no, I have no dreams of YouTube infamy, so I won't be attempting any creative destruction methods tonight. Instead, I'll call the experts tomorrow and let them take care of it. The nest is at least a foot across, if not closer to two.
I'm really not sure what they are, though I think they're members of the wasp family. If anyone wants to hazard a guess, here's a closeup of the critters.
Ugh. Bees and wasps. Two of my least favorite things, at least in mass concentrations in my own backyard!
They look like bald-faced hornets (actually more closely related to yellow jackets then hornets). See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-faced_hornet. Sounds like they are fairly docile except when their nest is disturbed.
...in other words, get out of the way when they're dealing with it tomorrow
That looks like them: bald-faced hornets is our apparent winner! I plan on taking a bunch of pictures (from inside, natch) of the removal, which will hopefully happen today.
-rob.
That thing would sure scare the heck out of me! How did they remove it? - Catfish
Here's how they removed it. It was quite impressive to watch -- from inside, that is!
-rob.
I know you've already had this one removed, but I personally wouldn't have worried about these guys too much. We had a bald-faced hornet nest in our front yard a couple of years ago, and before I knew what they were I tried to get rid of them with the standard wasp killer foaming spray. It didn't work, but even when I was spraying them they didn't get very excited. Once I figured out what they were, I was able to stand out under the nest and look up into it to see them all moving around. As they left and returned to the nest they would fly around my head but never bothered me at all.
The reason I decided to leave them in place is that I found out that they are not aggressive and not territorial, but are in fact predatory to other wasps, especially yellow jackets. We've had issues with yellow jackets coming from the woods in the back yard, and these guys took care of that for us. Unlike the bald faced hornets, the yellow jackets are territorial and aggressive, and will come at you for standing in the wrong spot...
Unfortunately for me, the bald faced hornets don't build in the same place twice, so they haven't come back to the tree in my front yard. I assume (hope) that they're somewhere in the area (it's very wooded here) and are being good neighbors taking care of the yellow jackets. I certainly haven't seen the yellow jackets come back since the bald faced guys were there in the front yard.
I actually read that as well, and if it had been in any other area of the yard, I probably would have left it. However, it was no more than five or six feet away from the edge of our kids' play structure, and I was not comfortable with them being out there that close to a large hive. Our oldest also likes to throw a ball around, and it has often hit the tree near the nest, as that branch sticks out over the yard.
-rob.
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