🐝 🐝 How to remove an insect nest from a grill?
July 23, 2018 7:12 PM Subscribe
Last summer we found a grill on the side of the road and brought it home, put it in the backyard and forgot about it. We continued using our small grill, but I lifted the cover of that big grill tonight to discover a white/yellow nest of a yellow and black striped stinging insect. The insects are hovering around the grill.
I have 0 attachment to the grill. I am fairly seriously allergic to insect stings. How do I remove this nest or the entire grill?
Bad photos are here. I'm afraid to get closer.
Early in the morning, before it warms up, I'd hit it with a can of foaming hornet/wasp killer.
That's what I'd do.
posted by humboldt32 at 7:15 PM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
That's what I'd do.
posted by humboldt32 at 7:15 PM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yeah. That foaming hornet/wasp killer is great. I think they all do this, but the can I had would fire out a 10+ foot stream so you didn’t have to stand close. Clean the grill really well if you decide you want to use it later.
posted by Betelgeuse at 7:21 PM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Betelgeuse at 7:21 PM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
not an expert, but those look like yellowjacket wasps. they're pretty diurnal - I remember watching the nests under the deck get quiet around sundown, and get sprayed by adults around 10 or 11pm.
posted by bagel at 7:31 PM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bagel at 7:31 PM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Seconding that those look like yellowjackets. Since you're allergic to stings, I highly recommend finding a willing neighbour and getting them to spray it down for you. Spraying from ten feet away well after dark is about as safe as you can get with wasp removal, from what I hear, but in your case you don't want to take even that relatively low risk. Buy your neighbour something nice afterwards to thank them.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:42 PM on July 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 7:42 PM on July 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Rural Texas native here, have dealt with this stuff often. First I think it's beyond reason to deal with any wasps, period, if you're allergic. Wasps are nothing to mess around with and you need to have someone else do this or hire an insect exterminator. I'm prepared to take the stings when I deal with a nest.
For non allergic people: for removal of an unknown-sized nest, you need to do this at night when the wasps are dormant. Wear dark, loose fitting, long sleeves, long pants clothes, make sure nothing can crawl in sleeves or shirt tops. Have a flashlight OFF at a distance, not held by you, preferably fixed on a sawhorse, tripod, or something stationary, because any wasps will go after lights. If you're in the dark, they won't bother you when they first swarm. Turn the light on, approach smoothly and confidently, watch carefully for anything flying out. Remove, determine nest size, get away if it's anything big. If its a small size, pop open all closures, vents, etc, you can get to immediately, then hit them with wasp killer or lots of soapy water. Then cut the light and leave for the night; the damage will be done and you can check it tomorrow. That does the trick 99% of the time.
If the nest is underground or inaccessible, get an exterminator, or you can try smoking them out, plugging their exits and spraying/soaping/smoking, but this is an expert level job for sure.
I'm guessing your nest is small, but nothing is guaranteed with those things.
posted by rolypolyman at 8:17 PM on July 23, 2018 [16 favorites]
For non allergic people: for removal of an unknown-sized nest, you need to do this at night when the wasps are dormant. Wear dark, loose fitting, long sleeves, long pants clothes, make sure nothing can crawl in sleeves or shirt tops. Have a flashlight OFF at a distance, not held by you, preferably fixed on a sawhorse, tripod, or something stationary, because any wasps will go after lights. If you're in the dark, they won't bother you when they first swarm. Turn the light on, approach smoothly and confidently, watch carefully for anything flying out. Remove, determine nest size, get away if it's anything big. If its a small size, pop open all closures, vents, etc, you can get to immediately, then hit them with wasp killer or lots of soapy water. Then cut the light and leave for the night; the damage will be done and you can check it tomorrow. That does the trick 99% of the time.
If the nest is underground or inaccessible, get an exterminator, or you can try smoking them out, plugging their exits and spraying/soaping/smoking, but this is an expert level job for sure.
I'm guessing your nest is small, but nothing is guaranteed with those things.
posted by rolypolyman at 8:17 PM on July 23, 2018 [16 favorites]
Also when I say "remove" I mean panels, doors, and obstructions, NOT the nest. That is always for later.
posted by rolypolyman at 8:24 PM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rolypolyman at 8:24 PM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Do you have any beekeeper friends or neighbors who would loan you a bee suit or jacket, or even just get a cheap bee veil on Amazon? (wear it over a hat with a brim to hold it away from your face). Most people can put together a good outfit for avoiding stings on the body, but having something that will protect your face/eyes and also allow you to see can give you a lot more confidence.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 9:55 PM on July 23, 2018
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 9:55 PM on July 23, 2018
Agree on using the light and going at night and approaching from a different direction. This is my standard approach for nests with any more than a half dozen wasps.
Yellow jackets are assholes, so don't lose any sleep about taking them out.
posted by plinth at 6:27 AM on July 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yellow jackets are assholes, so don't lose any sleep about taking them out.
posted by plinth at 6:27 AM on July 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
In addition to the advice above, you can get an attachment to put spray cans at the end of an ordinary extension pole. They're $25 on Amazon or whatever. That will give you a lot more distance when you're spraying.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:34 AM on July 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:34 AM on July 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I went to the (local, awesome) hardware store this morning to get some wasp/hornet spray. A clerk approached me and asked if I wanted help. I told him I was just looking at the different wasp/hornet sprays. He told me that the organic herbal wasp/hornet spray works just as well as Raid. I looked at him like he was from Mars. He insisted that it works just as well. I told him that while I dig organic herbal stuff for inside my own home, I want to massacre these creatures. I went with good ol' Raid.
Tonight someone who is not me will follow rolypolyman's plan. A few days later we will check to see that they are all dead. Then we will knock out the nest. Then we will roll this grill (THAT WE NEVER FIGURED OUT HOW TO USE CUZ I COULDN'T FIND THE MODEL ONLINE) to the street, power wash it, and put a free sign on it.
Send good thoughts. Thanks all.
posted by k8t at 10:27 AM on July 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
Tonight someone who is not me will follow rolypolyman's plan. A few days later we will check to see that they are all dead. Then we will knock out the nest. Then we will roll this grill (THAT WE NEVER FIGURED OUT HOW TO USE CUZ I COULDN'T FIND THE MODEL ONLINE) to the street, power wash it, and put a free sign on it.
Send good thoughts. Thanks all.
posted by k8t at 10:27 AM on July 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
I think you made the right choice with the Raid. The active ingredients in spray pesticides intended for killing wasps/hornets are essentially nerve agents, and they incapacitate and kill the wasps very rapidly. For obvious reasons, this is a very desirable trait in such a pesticide.
When I have had to kill wasps, I have used the same plan rolypolyman outlines and it has always worked well for me. In retrospect, I thought perhaps I was being overly cautious with making sure the light was well away from where I planned to stand, but it seemed worth the slight bit of extra preparation.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 11:29 AM on July 24, 2018
When I have had to kill wasps, I have used the same plan rolypolyman outlines and it has always worked well for me. In retrospect, I thought perhaps I was being overly cautious with making sure the light was well away from where I planned to stand, but it seemed worth the slight bit of extra preparation.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 11:29 AM on July 24, 2018
Good luck, k8t!
Growing up, the corner of the townhouse with my bedroom window was a magnet for wasps and hornets, and we had to kill a nest every couple of years. I've also had them show up in unused grills as a nasty surprise when you want to have the first cookout of the year.
For folks who aren't allergic, or can get help from someone who's not, you don't even really need the bug killer if they're in an enclosed space like that. Wait until dark, when they're asleep, get a bottle of rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid, open the vent at the top of the grill, pour a third to half of the bottle in there quickly, close the vent. Check again in the morning; chances are they're all pretty dead. Fumes kill them well (rubbing alcohol is how you kill bugs for insect collections if you don't have ether, which few people do anymore), and both the rubbing alcohol and the lighter fluid are relatively safe things to have on your grill because they'll pretty much burn off the first time you use it (obviously, be careful to avoid a fireball when lighting for the first time, but the volatility of the fumes is part of what makes them effective at starting fires, so the longer you wait, the less risk there is).
posted by klangklangston at 2:08 PM on July 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Growing up, the corner of the townhouse with my bedroom window was a magnet for wasps and hornets, and we had to kill a nest every couple of years. I've also had them show up in unused grills as a nasty surprise when you want to have the first cookout of the year.
For folks who aren't allergic, or can get help from someone who's not, you don't even really need the bug killer if they're in an enclosed space like that. Wait until dark, when they're asleep, get a bottle of rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid, open the vent at the top of the grill, pour a third to half of the bottle in there quickly, close the vent. Check again in the morning; chances are they're all pretty dead. Fumes kill them well (rubbing alcohol is how you kill bugs for insect collections if you don't have ether, which few people do anymore), and both the rubbing alcohol and the lighter fluid are relatively safe things to have on your grill because they'll pretty much burn off the first time you use it (obviously, be careful to avoid a fireball when lighting for the first time, but the volatility of the fumes is part of what makes them effective at starting fires, so the longer you wait, the less risk there is).
posted by klangklangston at 2:08 PM on July 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Here it is, post death. Beautiful!
http://imgur.com/5Iz2JQI
http://imgur.com/ohR5QXT
posted by k8t at 5:24 PM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
http://imgur.com/5Iz2JQI
http://imgur.com/ohR5QXT
posted by k8t at 5:24 PM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by k8t at 7:15 PM on July 23, 2018