Neighbour Has Giant Wasp(?) Nest - How Do We Get Them To Remove It?

[redfish44]

Our next door neighbour has a gigantic wasp nest on her roof.

The wasps are flying everywhere, including our balcony and try to get in our windows.

This really sucks when there is a power cut and it is hot, as don't want wasps in our house so have to keep the windows shut.

We have a small baby and I don't want her getting bitten.

Can't use our lovelly balcony as a result either.

The neighbour is not nice, all the other neighbours don't like her and everyone has asked her to remove the nest for one month already.

I even went crazy farang on her by storming over with the baby in my arms and told her she has to get it removed as if my baby gets bitten I am calling the cops (all this acheived was all the other neighbours smiling at me and being happy someone told her what for).

She later went all thai "we are both thai people" on my husband, but still won't remove it.

Hubby wants to set fire to it. I don't want our house to burn down (adjoining roof) and fill with angry wasps.

What are the legalities on this?

Any ideas what kind of wasps these are?

Are they dangerous to adults or babies?

How should we get rid of the nest? (it is in a big pot plant on the roof, so can't go the plastic bag idea like the one in the roof I read about here)

Edited November 20, 2011 by redfish44

[phaethon]

Not wasps, those are Vespa affinis, the lesser banded hornet.

http://www.vespa-bicolor.net/main/vespid/vespa-affinis.htm says

In my experience, Vespa affinis is not particularly defensive near the nest, and it is in fact possible to approach and observe a nest at close range. However, large numbers of workers will swarm out and attack pugnaciously when the nest is disturbed. From personal experience, Vespa affinis in Singapore, although still approachable, seem more alert and ready to attack near the nest than their Hong Kong counterparts, and once provoked, attack in larger numbers and give chase over longer distances. The same appears to be true of Vespa tropica. Possibly, larger colony sizes and constant hot weather cause most wasps to be more defensive in tropical regions.

Perhaps you and the neighbours could have a whip-round and offer to pay for expert disposal.

[MikeyIdea]

I saw a row between 2 Thai neighbours up the street some 15 yrs ago, the Thai neighbour without bees ended the discussion spitting the bee neighbour in the face

Did it work? Yes, the bees disappeared after less than a month

Edit: Forgot legality - You have the right to make a police report of course, the neighbour will after a court case be ordered to pay the hospital bill if you or your child get bitten

If you're nice to the police and ask for their help (and bring your baby when you do it) then it wouldn't be too difficult to get them to come over and talk to the neighbour

Edited November 21, 2011 by MikeyIdea

[tekinsabana]

wait for the night and burn it

[TexasRanger]

I get rid of them by burning an oil and gas soaked rag tied to a pole or stick and let the thick smoke get rid of them then smash the nest. If you have access.

[redfish44]

Thanks for the info : )

We are going home today after visiting my family overseas. Will see if the hornets are still there (I hope not).

[redfish44]

Update:

We came back and it is still very much here and very much full of hornets, and very much bigger.

After bugging her for a few days in a rown she agreed to let the local guy that removes them take a look.

Now they say it is too big to burn and can't do it as is stuck to the wall now as is so big.

So basically she won't do anything and as I sit here I watch heaps of the big nasty bugs flying past my windows.

She is an insane woman with no regard for others safety, not even her hown children. Not a nice lady.

Meanwhile, what are any legal options to throw at her?

Are there any laws about keeping dangerous wildife we can put in her face and entice the local cops to get her to pay fines until she has it removed?

I do not have to wait until my baby is attacked and hurt by her bugs.

[phaethon]

You don't say where you are, but the 'local guy' who probably just turns up with a stick to knock these things down, is not going to cut it. You need to contact a professional outfit who will properly poison the nest first then remove it. In a more temperate region the colony would be dying off by now, but in Thailand they can go for years.

[canuckamuck]

We had a beach ball sized nest of the same hornets, we had a local guy come with his buddies. The sent one guy up at night with the burning oily rag to chase them away and then they knocked it down and they scooped up all the larvae. That was all they wanted for payment. The guys still got a few stings. And they were genuinely afraid at first. These hornets can kill people.

I suggest you keep looking for someone who will take it out, It is dangerous.

Edited December 2, 2011 by canuckamuck

[MikeyIdea]

I think the solution needs to be tactical and you need to be tactical, that's the only thing that works well in Thailand

Why not (have the wife to) go down to tessabaan (amphur), bring your child and a big colour photograph of the giant wasp net and tell them that your house gets lot's of wasps inside and that the she worries about her childs safety, ask them - Can you please help

Not unlikely that they will if they think what they do is important - a small child certainly is, and if they are approached in a polite way of course

Good Luck

[maccaroni man]

we had one and the gardner was fighting the issan boy to leave it until he was ready to harvest it. as an other suggested get some bug eaters they will remove it for the food.

[redfish44]

Update:

(to answer the above posts: I am the wife, my hubby is the Thai here - he tried diplomacy, and it failed, he thinks the lady is crazy too, as does everyone else. We are in Saladan on Koh Lanta)

After I went over again and again (and her telling all the neighbours I should move as I am the problem), she finally asked about my husbands friend to get rid of the bugs. My husband took her to the nieghbour (who told her 3 months ago his mate could remove it). His buddy is the island professional pest removal guy. He came over the next day to look at it, but decided no way would he touch it as it was too big (It had grown to over the plant and was stuck to the wall). He said it was too dangerous.

A few days later, 5 more professional bug removal guys rocked up, with equipment. They took a look at the nest, and also informed everyone it was too dangerous to remove, and couldn't be burnt as the hornets would go everywhere etc.

After this everyone was well annoyed (except the crazy woman whose hotel it is on the roof of, she is insane and thinks it is good luck).

I started telling her guests to go stay elsewhere as it was dangerous (not good luck for her anymore). There were hundreds of these bugs flying past my window all day at this point.

Then a few days after that I was out visiting friends (as couldn't sit outside my own home with the baby anymore due to the bugs), and my hubby rocked up to tell me we had to stay out late that night as someone was going to burn the nest, and they wanted us to keep the baby away somewhere safe.

Turns out 2 guys from down the road went up there after sunset and burnt it. They had no protective clothing and got bitten a heap of times but didn't care. It took 20 minutes to burn, then they cut up the honeycomb and took it home in a couple of buckets to eat.

We had some annoyed hornets about looking for a new home for the next week or so, but no where near as many as before, and now they are gone, although occasionally see flying about every now and then.

Edited December 21, 2011 by redfish44

[Pseudolus]

Sorry I missed this post. My DIY hornet nest destruction system which I honed in Hong Kong involved a 1 inch wide long blue plastic pipe (longest I could get), about 5 cans of wasp killer spray, a king bed sized mosi net (with coat hangers to create a pocket big enough so they would not sting me through it) and nerves of steel. Assemble it all, point one end at nest; get in the net, and spray spray spray hoping enough dribbles out the end to do the job. I managed to use this to span a 2 mtr gap to a neighbours one night (when they were asleep) and they awoke to a gazillion dead hornets and were somewhat perplexed.

[isanbirder]

I'd love to watch you, Adam.... from a safe distance (no relation of Jimmy Banks, by any chance?)

[taff33]

We had one on our house,the one good thing is they only seem to last the one "season".

[raro]

We also just discovered a nest of those hornets in our garden. Size of a coconut. The gardeners are debating now what to do with it...

[kimincm]

I know this is a different critter,but the burning rags on the end of the stick at night worked just fine.Be wary though I got stung seven times while cutting the tree before I was aware of the nest and they they really pack a punch.

[raro]

the nest has been burned just afterdark by the gardeners. No problems.