How to get rid of this hive?

Looks like black jackets not bees.

Those aren’t honeybees.

Use fire. And lots of it.

Ah seriously. Didn’t know they all build nests like this.
Anyone use that Raid foam stuff before ?

simplypop wrote: ↑ Ah seriously. Didn’t know they all build nests like this.
Anyone use that Raid foam stuff before ?

Seriously, yes I've used the foaming stuff before. Wait until evening when the hive calms down then carpet bomb the crap out of it with the foam. Shoot it in the hive entrance as best you can.

Those are paper wasps, a single wasp can sting you repeatedly and swarm if the see you as a threat to their nest. I just removed 3 nests myself a week ago. Consider yourself lucky your nest is out in the open.

I had 1 large 1 med and a small nest inside a small storage shed, was not fun at all. A 5x7 small shed and all the nests were at head level. I was stuck in a small area with very little escape room if they swarmed me.

The large nest had 30+ wasp about 10 in the medium and 5 or so in the small nest all a few feet within each other in a small space.

You need to kill them at night (dusk) when they all return to the nest and become inactive. Most of them leave the nest during the day so removing their nest wont do much as they will return at the end of the day to make a new one.

Good news is they drown very easily and soapy water really hurts their ability to fly. If you have a pressure washer and foam gun you can get the whole colony fairly easily. Foam cannon can cover a very large area quickly with lots of foam. Theres youtube videos with people just using a spray bottle with soap and water. In my case I couldnt take the risk and foam cannon was VERY effective, none survived... it was a massacre.

I didnt want to wipe them out but I had to reclaim my shed lol.

Foam wasp spray or pressure washer from as far away as possible (and wear as much protective gear as you can).

I bought those little pump spray bottles from princess auto for maybe $10. You add soap and water and then pump until you build enough pressure to spray from a distance.

This has been working great for me, then I use a long stick to crush the nest.

I'm always amazed by the amount of adults who don't know the difference between bees and wasps.

Try spraying it with soap and water at night when they're not active.

If they're not bothering you, wait for winter to kill them off and then remove the nest.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ If they're not bothering you, wait for winter to kill them off and then remove the nest.

Not good advice imo. I went NEAR a hive without realizing there was one (it was underground 100ft from my house) and I was swarmed and stung pretty bad...sooooooo painful.

No point in killing them in winter as they'll be gone by then anyways.

OP best to rid of them as suggested

hierophant wrote: ↑ Not good advice imo. I went NEAR a hive without realizing there was one (it was underground 100ft from my house) and I was swarmed and stung pretty bad...sooooooo painful.

There are many different species with different behavior. Some are aggressive, some not. Best not to be overly paranoid when they might be non-aggressive. Clumsy attempts to remove the nest are when you are most likely to be stung, and it might be unnecessary.

I've had wasp nests in cracks in my lawn before, and only discovered them when accidentally running over them with the lawnmower. That caused the wasps to come buzzing out, but fortunately they were non-aggressive, and I was careful to pass over that spot quickly on future mowings. I've also had very similar paper wasp nests under my eves and along the fence, but they never gave me any problem and they were only occupied for a few months. The wasps are necessary for fruit tree pollination around here, and I have apple, cherry, and hazelnut trees.

Battled a nest of wasps last season...like the others said, wait for night time, dress up like its winter and go to town with a spray making sure you blast through their entrance/exit hole.

I've only ever had to spray a single nest that they made on our patio umbrella. I bought the spray and it was very easy to use. It shoots pretty far so you don't have to be close. I did it very early one morning (~5:00am) and there was no activity at all either before, during, or after I sprayed. Came back a day later and was able to remove what was left.

I have one now in an exterior light fixture just above my BBQ but it hasn't bothered me as they tend to mind their own business so I've left that one be (pun intended).

European paper wasps nest all over my roof but I leave them alone (and they leave me alone). It's the yellowjackets that I try to get rid of because they're much more aggressive, go after cooked meats, and go after my bees (have 5 hives in my garden, more elsewhere).

Best to try to remove wasps early in the season (March-May): If you trap a queen then, that's one less colony later in the season.