Dangerous hornets near Manalapan, NJ fire hydrant

Today, I had the pleasure of having one of our newer techs riding with me to help show him “the ropes.” Hands-on training presents great teaching moments through out the day, and the experience technicians enjoy sharing their knowledge and approach.Our office received a call from the property manager of one of our commercial accounts, a residential community in Manalapan, NJ. A hornets nest had formed in a potentially dangerous location — on a fire hydrant right near a school bus stop. Although with dropping fall temperatures, hornets nests naturally die out, with the workers dying and the mated queen hibernating over the winter, this was still an active nest and needed to be treated and removed. We happened to not be far from this community when the call came in, so we immediately took care of it.  

This technician had not yet removed a hornets nest before, so I knew we were in for a good time! Every technician remembers their first hornet nest removal, and this was an active one. I talked through the treatment, and since the nest was still very active so I had him put on the protective bee-wasp suit. The new tech fearlessly treated the nest and removed it from the hydrant to bag it and take it off the property. There may always be wasps still in the nest, so we take all of the nest debris with us. He worked safely and efficiently, and will soon be ready to go out on his own.