I wouldn't buy any pest control product without knowing the active ingredient. I did a little bit of searching but didn't find any helpful information.

with hornets.. they usually dont bother you .. unless you bother them..

as to the population .... place some type of lure.. their favorite food??? .. perhaps the rind of a honeydew you just enjoyed .... place it out where they are.. place a lawn chair 10 feet away ..... and start observing.. sooner or later... you will start to notice a pattern in incoming and outgoing flight ... and you can attack the nest ... and you usually do that after dark .. when they have all returned to the nest.. and are snoozing ...

for me.. this process usually involves a few adult beverages.. and many evenings of observation.. lol ... but i ALWAYS spray sober .... and with my wasps ... all you need to do.. is keep wetting the paper hive.. and they move ... its the ones in the ground.. that are not easy to get rid of [are those bees or wasps]

and this is where someone comes in and says.. yes.. that is all true.. except with European Hornets

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: ok.. this even bothered me.. lol ... check out some of the other links on the right margin .. like the fire one.. and the 80,000 one... ...

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Sat, Feb 23, 13 at 11:15

You crack me up, Ken.

I looked up the honey dew gel, which is a thick gunk applied by something that looks sort of like a very small caulk applicator. A thin line of of it placed here and there on those trees that are being stripped by these hornet and it is purported to attract them...they take some samples back to the nest... and I don't know what happens after that.

I can't find a label for these kinds of products and I ain't gonna use anything unless I know what's in it. Is is a growth regulator, a boric acid bait, a toxic substance? If hornets are attracted to it, what about birds or butterflies? Is it harmful to them? At the very least, how would one know how to compare prices?

but thats the beauty of watering paper...

there are no harmful side effects .. .

unless you are so drunk you fall over.. while running away screaming like a 7 year old girl ... into the honeydew .... [thats more of a guy mind picture.. lol] ...

at the link above.. i am still amused at the dudes interchanging bee/wasp in their very highbrow conversation.. while lighting a fire on a 20 foot pole in a tree with gas ..... [its surprising the women let those guys outdoors.. lol .. like they asked permission] ..... its like word dont mean things.. crikey.. not everything with a stinger is a bee ...

ken

ps: whats next.. a flamethrower???? maybe they could rig the Weber barbi on a pole.. and hoick that thing up there ....

In reading through their website last night, it looked to me like the honeydew gel is the same product they sell for carpenter ants and the active ingredient 'fipronil'.
"highly toxic to some birds but not ducks, toxic to honeybees but not earthworms"

Not anything I have experience with or have seen, some cautions can be found here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Fipronil

As far as I know, the European hornet is the only one that strips bark with such determination. I would call it an identifying feature.

Your otherwise good fact sheet, kimmsr, simply didn't emphasize this fact, though the image shows it.

Thank you all for your responses...

I read about fipronil, and I'll not be using honey dew. It is toxic to fresh water fish... and we have small creeks on both sides of our property.

Just to make it clear... I have confirmed with our county extension office that they are in fact, European Hornets...

Getting stung is not the issue for me. Issue # 1: They are girdling my Seven Sons of Yang! (see attached pic) This damage is specifically from these hornets! I have wrapped the main trunk of the tree with burlap, and now they are stripping the back from the branches, and I've got substantial die-back. Issue # 2: They are killing all of the butterflies in my yard! (Especially the swallowtails.) They literally hover over the buddleias and other plants. When the butterflies land... Bang! They are right on top of them, taking them down to the ground, where they proceed to sting them over and over until the butterfly dies and/or breaks into piece. The hornets do NOT fly off with part of the butterfly, as if to use it as a host for it's eggs. It's simply kills it and leaves it there on the ground.

Our property is wooded - I can't figure out how to post 2 pics, so I'll post a 2nd pic just after this one... The wild life is wonderful! Any other suggestions on how to deter these hornets will be greatly appreciated.

(Note: Last year I tried laying out honeydew, catelope and other melons... as well as sugar water in cups, hoping they would not bother my tree... They had a party, eating and drinking from the all-you-could-eat buffet, and then proceeded to stripping the bark off of my tree with more vigor than ever!)

THIS IS WAR!!!!!

2nd pic showing our back yard. We have 6.5 acres... Less then 1 acre is yard... the rest is wooded with creeks.

Gorgeous place to live... EXCEPT for the DANG HORNETS!

I'm not seeing much in the way of advice to help you with. The nests are annual, I'm not sure why they would be an ongoing problem for you year after year. Not many natural predators, or solutions if you don't know the nest location (s) either.

I just hope you can enjoy that lovely setting you've shown us - the fence is beautiful! I wonder how effective it would be for my deer:)

Hi Morz8! Actually, the fence DOES help with deer! The spikes on it deter them... They walk along the outside, but have not come across in the 5 years since we've put it up! If we had gone with the straight rail, instead of the spikes, they would not respect it... (Found this out when I lived in Huntsville, AL.) Now they are no problem... (at least inside of the fence...) (smile)

I'm not sure why the hornets are here every year... This past summer was 3 years in a row! :-(

Rescue brand's W-H-Y traps are alleged to trap Euros along with (you guessed it - Wasps, Hornets, Yellowjackets). I'm on my 3rd year of not eating apples because of these $&@?!! hornets- and no blueberries. They attacked my cherry tree and a redbud and they're a pain in the rear at night too- forget hanging out on a well lit porch. If they're going to do any good you really must have them out and baited early- before the thaw- so emerging beasts find them-'catching potential queens is the trick ticket. Then keep trapping. And trapping. That's the best alternative to the honeydew-if it works.

Rescue brand's W-H-Y traps are alleged to trap Euros along with (you guessed it - Wasps, Hornets, Yellowjackets). I'm on my 3rd year of not eating apples because of these $&@?!! hornets- and no blueberries. They attacked my cherry tree and a redbud and they're a pain in the rear at night too- forget hanging out on a well lit porch. If they're going to do any good you really must have them out and baited early- before the thaw- so emerging beasts find them-'catching potential queens is the trick ticket. Then keep trapping. And trapping. That's the best alternative to the honeydew-if it works.

Rescue brand's W-H-Y traps are alleged to trap Euros along with (you guessed it - Wasps, Hornets, Yellowjackets). I'm on my 3rd year of not eating apples because of these $&@?!! hornets- and no blueberries. They attacked my cherry tree and a redbud and they're a pain in the rear at night too- forget hanging out on a well lit porch. If they're going to do any good you really must have them out and baited early- before the thaw- so emerging beasts find them-'catching potential queens is the trick ticket. Then keep trapping. And trapping. That's the best alternative to the honeydew-if it works.