Sounds like a movie from the SciFi channel! http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060717/NEWS02/607170317/1009
I still haven't figured out- Are homeowners better off putting out yellow jacket traps to get rid of the annoying things... or is it better to just leave them alone, since they eat other insect pests?
You know, whether they eat other bugs or not...if I knew I had a nest of those things (let alone a nest the size in the article) I'd call the exterminator right away. Those things give me the heebie jeebies. Here in Puerto Rico, we really dont have them. I was riding my mountain bike through the forest one day and saw these gigantic, and I mean insanely massive, nests attached to some large trees. I asked a local what they were (afraid they were bees). He told me they were termites. But looking at the size of those nests is eerie.
My backyard is full of yellowjacket traps. In snow country up here in the winter they'll find a small hole in one of your exterior walls and develop a massive colony in your house. We have plenty of bats and dragonflies to eat up the pests.
I saw a National Geographic special recently about the most aggressive insects, and the yellow jacket wasp was the top-rated. It takes very, very little to set them off and have them swarming on you. If you've got a nest, best to call the exterminator ASAP, especially if you've got kids or pets.
Get some honey bees.... I have no problems with other insects since honeybees moved in the back yarrd. Thing is the honey bees are kind of taking over this column between my patio and upstairs solarium. I called the pest control people, got rid of them, but I think a passing swarm is trying to pirate the dead colonies booty. :eek:
Two summers ago, I had a wasp nest under the roof outside the shed in the backyard. It was roughly the size of a bowling ball, maybe a bit smaller. From a distance, it looked like it was put together with gray duct tape. The wasps would annoy from time to time as I entered or exited the shed. One day, I got fed up and decided to have at them. I sprayed inside the entrance hole with a high-pressure water sprayer from a distance of less than 5 feet, fully expecting some of them to come out. I figured they would come out and possibly come at me, but I planned on spraying at full power in their direction if that happened. It was probably not the smartest thing I ever did. In any event, I don't recall any wasps even making it out of the hole. I sprayed the thing right off the shed and onto the ground. Not one wasp emerged or attacked me. Upon reflection, I would probably not do that again.
When I was a fire fighter someone got the great pr idea that the public could call the FD to help with wasp removal (so grandpa wouldn't fall off a ladder doing it himself). Anyway we put on our full turnout gear, covered every square inch, then went up to the nest with a big garbage bag, covered it, ripped it off the building, tree, whatever... tied a knot in it and threw it in a dumpster. No one got stung, but it was a great job for the new guys on the job.