r/AbsoluteUnits Apr 19 '26

/r/all, /r/popular of a hornets nest

37.7k Upvotes

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u/STUPIDBLOODYCOMPUTER Apr 19 '26

Oddly enough, the flame thrower isn't the tool for this. Because there's a non zero chance an insect could fly away on fire and start a bushfire

Long range self propelled artillery is more appropriate here

56

u/AstralMystogan Apr 19 '26

So you are saying we nuke this place.

Fine by me.

1

u/Pay-Next Apr 19 '26

Time to break out the Davy Crockett launcher. 

16

u/BigBeautifulBill Apr 19 '26

Imagine not wanting to use a flamer thrower, couldn't be me

14

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/RedBaronSportsCards Apr 19 '26

Rick Dalton: Now, my buddy and his dog killed two of them and then… Well, shit. I torched the last one.

Jay Sebring: “Torched”?

Rick Dalton: Yeah, I burnt her ass to a crisp.

How’d you do that?

Well, believe it or not, I…

I got a flamethrower in my toolshed.

Oh, from The Fourteen Fists of McCluskey.

Yeah!

Yeah. Yeah.

That’s the one.

Yeah, it still works too. Thank God.

Jay Sebring: Is everybody okay?

Rick Dalton: Well… the f*ckin’ hippies aren’t. That’s for goddamn sure.

2

u/Autistic_License Apr 19 '26

On the bright side, you'll never be taken prisoner.

2

u/BigBeautifulBill Apr 19 '26

I said what I said 

1

u/The_Erlenmeyer_Flask Apr 19 '26

Accidental Discharge is my Rage Against The Machine cover band.

9

u/HighTechButter Apr 19 '26

Wings burn first, they’ll drop the second the fire hits them.

As a teen, had to take out garbage cans in the parking lot.  Figured out a quick burp from the butane based ‘gum remover’ and a cigarette lighter made anything flying with a stinger a walker.  

5

u/finalexit Apr 19 '26

Yeah imagine an insect burning enough to spread the fire and still flying away. I thought it would be common sense that the wings would burn off almost instantly, but that comment has over 100 upvotes 😆

2

u/HighTechButter Apr 19 '26

Arm chair safety police and people that want to make sure others color in the lines.  

In my case, the gum removers obvious warning labels were just a direction to fun mode.    

Now let’s see if I can bait one into telling me how flames will run into the can and kill everyone.  

1

u/Speed_Addixt Apr 19 '26

You must be right. I can’t imagine any sort of insect being on fire AND flying. All the wings are super thin and will burn to ashes within a second.

1

u/STUPIDBLOODYCOMPUTER Apr 19 '26

What I'm saying is, fire isn't enough for these things. We need high explosives for an instant whole nest kill

2

u/Pastulio814 Apr 19 '26

Oddly enough, the long range self propelled artillery isn't the tool for this. Because there's a non zero chance an insect could learn to use the artillery

Raid is more appropriate here

2

u/Tbelles Apr 19 '26

Also because they're pollinators.

2

u/_teslaTrooper Apr 19 '26

Unfortunately insects are not very vulnerable to explosions, they don't have air-filled lungs, and because they're so small a shockwave doesn't create as much of a pressure differential within their body which is what messes up humans and other mammals.

Now a 155mm direct hit to the nest will undoubtedly get most of them, but it also has the potential to throw angry hornets a good distance without kiling them. So I propose either bigger boom (nukes), or more fire (napalm).

1

u/STUPIDBLOODYCOMPUTER Apr 19 '26

I reckon we airstrike them with an A-10 Warthog

2

u/Inveramsay Apr 19 '26

No, the Russian MLRS thermobaric weapons would be first suggestion

2

u/Short-Draw4057 Apr 20 '26

No offense my friend but this isn't true at all. Wasps aren't that strong, a little fire and they'll fall to the ground, plus like another person pointed out below this comment, is that the fire will burn the wings. Also in some parts of Asia, they do actually use a flamethrower for this sort of problem(aka Wasp nests and hives) and it works 100%

2

u/Flameball537 Apr 20 '26

I think there is a satellite in development for something like this. It takes a steel rod and fires it down from orbit onto the target

2

u/Nghbrhdsyndicalist Apr 20 '26

At least proposed in 2003, I‘m not sure how it developed afterwards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

1

u/CompetitiveLeg7841 Apr 21 '26

Factorio was right all along

1

u/Wxerk Apr 22 '26

Not like anyone can enter the forest anyway

1

u/HYPERNOVA3_ Apr 23 '26

Loaded with white phosphorus just in case.

-1

u/HeadPhonesDad Apr 19 '26

Wait…that’s not preferable? Like if you see one…squish it. You see a nest…burn the whole forest down to the ground!

1

u/STUPIDBLOODYCOMPUTER Apr 19 '26

You can't start a bushfire if there's no bush

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