Yellowjackets

By Terri Estes

Right now, yellowjackets are everywhere, and they are hungry. Yellowjackets are a type of aggressive wasp, easily identified by their shiny yellow and black body. They are not bees. Bees are a more subtle yellow and black and are hairy. Bees will never bother you for your soft drink or food. They will not swarm the garbage pails at the park and are only interested in the nectar from flowers.

Towards the end of summer, yellowjacket colonies are at full capacity and their food sources become scarce. After months of growth, thousands of active, hungry wasps are out searching for food and the limited resources makes them more aggressive and bolder in their search.

Yellowjackets live in large annual colonies with a queen, workers and males. They build papery nests underground or in hollow cavities above ground. They can be dangerous if their nest is disturbed and will swarm and attack whatever is threatening their nest. They are capable of producing a very painful sting, and can sting more than once, unlike the honeybee, who dies after stinging, leaving their barbed stinger in whomever they have stung.

I have read that yellowjackets are beneficial to the environment by acting as predators to certain insects like flies and caterpillars, and serving as decomposers by consuming dead animals and plants. They also sometimes inadvertently contribute to pollination as they move from plant to plant searching for food.

In my opinion, the bad far outweighs the good when it comes to yellowjackets. I would prefer flies and caterpillars in my yard, and I’ll leave the pollination to the bees. As a matter of fact, nothing that I read in my research convinced me that there were any redeeming qualities about this aggressively annoying insect, and I’m pretty sure that most of you will agree with me!

If you have a yellowjacket nest on your property, it is best to get rid of it a night when they are less active. There are several insecticide dusts or aerosol sprays that can be sprayed directly into the nest. it is important to get the queen to ensure a collapse of the colony, so wear gloves and douse that nest. If the nest is too big, or behind an enclosed wall, a professional may be needed. Good luck to all in the battle against these nasty, useless bugs!