Shocking Bald-Faced Hornet Discovery in Old Bridge, NJ
Challenge
Recently, I went out on a service call for one of our commercial accounts, a nursing facility in Old Bridge, NJ. The property manager had mentioned that he spotted a live and very active hornet's nest inside one of the windows to his building. I began inspecting the area and discovered a large bald-faced hornet's nest in between the window and the window screen. The nest was HUGE! In fact, it was getting so big that it pushed the top of the screen off its track!
Bald-faced hornets build paper nests at least three or more feet off of the ground, usually in trees, shrubs, on overhangs, utility poles, houses, sheds or other structures. These nests can be as large as 14 inches in diameter and more than 24 inches in length. The larger the nest, the larger the colony of hornets inside are (sometimes between 100 and 400 members at their peak). You can identify a bald-faced hornet by its black color and mostly white face. They are social insects and are most visibly active during the day.
Solution
First, I applied an aerosol application directly into the nest from the outside. This application immediately neutralizes the hornets on contact. Next, I went inside, removed the screen, made a hole, and continued to treat inside the nest with the aerosol application. This terminated the rest of the hornets.
I then removed the nest, properly disposed of it, and cleaned the area in the window and the screen. Just in case there were a few roaming bald-faced hornets around I applied a residual application where the nest was so that they will come in contact with it. This application will also prevent future infestations from hornets and wasps.
