Well, that's good.
Your likely dealing with mean german shepards instead of mean pit bulls.
Still, a can of hornet spray from HD should do the trick if you can get within 15-20 feet....leave the nest alone for a day or two and observe activity from your sniper position....any late soldiers return, nick them off a few at a time with the spray...after the majority of them appear to be dead, you're probl'y ok to knock it down....but, in reality, it's not likely they'll come back and reuse it, they don't do that....and if you leave it there, the kid's in the 'hood won't mess with it, point it out to the wacko, and she'll just put up a few more 'fridgerator doors for wall paper, and you get all the pears!
Hat/hoodie, long jeans, fall jacket, mid weight gloves are likely sufficient PPE's
But, If you
really want to stir up a hornets nest, you could just go to the library on south hill...to research how to safely take down a hornets nest.
jt