Friday, November 4, 2011

FREE Hornet Removal ! (yes, it's baaack!)

FREE Hornet Nest Removal
(Effective Nov 7th, 2011 till????)
Yes, you read the title correctly, we are offering Free Hornet Nest Removals, no strings attached. We are participating in a research trial,  and are looking for suitable candidates for this trial.  However, there are conditions to be met, in order for these nests to be included in the free hornet removals. And some exclusions exist as well. Should your nest not qualify, we certainly can perform removals at a reasonable charge.

Here are the conditions:
  1. The nest must be located in one of the following counties: Marion, Levy, Dixie, Gilchrist, Alachua, Putnam, Clay, Bradford, Union, Lafayette, Suwannee, and the southern portions of Columbia and Baker Counties. Please see map below highlighting areas covered.
  2. The nest must be active. (containing live adult hornets, at the minimum. Live immatures are ok, too.)
  3. The nest must be Bald-Faced Hornets, scientific name is Dolichovespula maculata .  Please see representative photos below. Other species of stinging insects are not included in this program, including Yellow Jackets ( Vespula spp.), Paper Wasps ( Polistes spp. ), Honey Bees ( Apis mellifera ) or any other stinging insects. We can perform removals for a reasonable fee on these other insects.
  4. The nest must be accessible and removable by normal means, either at an accessible height, or with a 12 foot stand-alone ladder. (usually no taller than 20 feet, and able to remove the nest intact. Shredded nests or pieces of nest are useless for this program)
  5. We must be allowed to use insecticide. EPA labeled insecticide will be used. If it's illegal to use insecticide at the site,  or you or the property owner/management will not allow insecticide use, the free removal cannot be included in this program. 
  6. We reserve the right to exclude any nests, at our discretion, for the free hornet removal program. 
What we are looking for:
These are some photos of hornets and their nests. They are made of a paper-like substance that the hornets make from chewed bark & other cellulose containing materials, plus saliva. Notice the banded appearance.

Hornet Nest

Hornet Nest


Hornet Nest

Hornet (Dolichovespula)


What we are NOT looking for:

Honey Bee nests including External nests
Honey Bee
Yellow Jacket nests
Yellow Jacket Nests
Yellow Jackets
Paper Wasp Nests

Paper Wasp Nest
Paper Wasp
Mud Dauber Nest
Mud Dauber
 Again, for the free removals, we only want Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) nests that are active. If you have any of these other nest, as shown above, we will be happy to remove them for you at a reasonable fee.


WHERE we will perform free Hornet removals:
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Free Hornet Removal area

 Counties and Cities we will remove Hornets for free:

  • Marion: Ocala, Silver Springs, Reddick
  • Levy: Bronson, Cedar Key
  • Dixie: Cross City
  • Gilchrist: Trenton
  • Alachua: Gainesville, High Springs, Alachua, Waldo
  • Putnam: Palatka
  • Clay: Green Cove Springs, Orange Park
  • Bradford: Starke
  • Union: Lake Butler
  • Baker: Macclenny
  • Columbia: Lake City
  • Suwannee: Live Oak
  • Lafayette: Mayo

 We will remove hornets in other cities/towns/unincorporated areas located in the above counties.

Give us a call at 352-870-0346 , 1-800-343-5317 Or simply send us an email here, and ask us about FREE HORNET REMOVAL. We'll be happy to discuss your nest and let you know if it qualifies for this research program.




Thanks,

Richard Martyniak, M.Sc., Entomologist