Found a Hornet Nest in Columbus? What to Do First

What should you do in the first hour after finding a hornet nest?

1. Move away without swattingBack off slowly. Waving your arms or swatting at the insects tells the colony the threat is real.
2. Clear people and petsBring kids and animals inside and close doors or windows near the nest. Keep lawn equipment out of that corner.
3. Photograph from far awayUse your phone's zoom from across the yard. Capture the whole nest and what it hangs from. Do not use a flash.
4. Note the detailsWrite down the height, the size, the nearest door or path and whether anyone in the home has a sting allergy.
5. Call early in the dayEarly calls leave more of the day to work with. Same-day visits happen when the schedule allows, and we say so honestly on the call.

Is it a hornet nest, a paper wasp nest or a yellow jacket nest?

The answer changes the plan, and a photo from across the yard is usually enough to tell. Bald faced hornets build a closed gray paper nest, shaped like a football or teardrop, with one opening near the bottom. Paper wasps build an open comb, like a small umbrella, with the cells in plain view. Yellow jackets nest in the ground or inside wall voids, so you often see traffic at a single hole and no nest at all.

Do not walk closer to confirm. If the photo is blurry, send it anyway and describe where the traffic is. We can usually narrow it down from that.

What should you never do near a hornet nest?

Hornets defend the nest hard, and several instincts people have about nests make things worse.

• Do not spray from close range. A stream that reaches the nest also tells every guard where you are standing.
• Do not knock it down or hit it with a hose. Hornets that lose a nest do not leave. They swarm the nearest target.
• Do not cover or plug the entrance. Trapped insects look for another way out, and sometimes that is inside the house.
• Do not trim, mow or run a trimmer beneath it. Vibration alerts the colony.
• Do not use fire, smoke or fireworks. Besides the sting risk, you can set the house or a tree on fire.

What if hornets are already getting indoors?

Close the door to that room and watch where they come in: a window frame, a light fixture, a vent or a gap around a pipe. A steady flow of hornets inside with no nest in sight often points to a colony in a wall void or attic. That is the case where you should not caulk or block anything yourself, because the insects will look for another way out.

Keep everyone out of that room and leave the lights alone. Then call, and tell us which wall or ceiling the traffic seems to come from.

Is a hornet nest an emergency or can it wait?

Calling a nest urgent does not change the schedule, so we would rather tell you honestly which column yours is in. Our page on same-day nest removal explains how we decide.

How fast can a hornet nest be removed in Columbus?

A same-day visit happens when the schedule allows. It opens up when earlier jobs end early, when someone cancels or when we have room in a route near you. Customers mention same-day service in reviews, and one review describes hornet jobs done the next day.

The drive helps. Our Dunning Rd base is about 7 minutes from central Columbus and about 11 minutes from Gahanna, where the Big Walnut Creek corridor is lined with mature trees that give hornets plenty of limbs to choose from. Close calls with a nest by a door move up the list. A nest high in a tree far from the house waits for a normal opening.

We are not a 24-hour service. We work set hours, closed Sunday, so a nest found on a Sunday waits until Monday. For the full picture, read our emergency pest control overview.

Why do hornet nests get worse from August on?

A queen starts the nest alone in spring, and each wave of workers adds paper and defenders. By late summer a bald faced hornet nest can be the size of a basketball, with many more guards than in June. Hornets are also more irritable then, and a nest you walked past in July can become a problem by September.

Colonies die with the first hard freeze, and the old nest is never reused. If you find one in November, the colony is already gone, and removing the paper is a choice, not a necessity. If you find one in August, plan on action.

Can you remove an old nest in winter?

After a hard freeze the colony is gone, but a single cold night may not finish every hornet inside. Ohio State University Extension's BYGL notes that nests collected in winter can still hold live hornets, particularly early in the cold season. Wait for a sustained freeze, watch the entrance on a mild afternoon and only touch the nest if nothing is moving.

Old nests also fall apart over winter. If it hangs over a path, taking it down is tidy. If it sits high in a tree, it can stay until it drops.

What if someone gets stung?

Move away from the nest first, since more stings follow if you stay. Then wash the area, apply a cold pack and watch the person for the next several minutes.

Multiple stings, a sting inside the mouth, or any history of severe reactions also warrant a call to a doctor. Bald faced hornets can spray venom toward the eyes, so rinse well with water and get medical help if they burn.