See full version: Yellow Jackets
Many species of yellow jackets construct nests both above and below ground. Sometimes they will even use abandoned rodent burrows for nests — expanding the cavity as the colony develops.
For signs of an underground yellow jacket nest, look for small stones and dirt piling up around the opening of a burrow. They will also use materials on the ground with available openings, such as railroad ties or concrete blocks. more
After hiding out during the winter in hollow logs, stumps or tree bark, fertilized queens emerge in spring to select a nesting site and build a paper-like nest to lay her eggs. Once some workers are born, they begin caring for other larvae by feeding them chewed meat or fruit, expanding the nest, foraging for food, caring for the queen and providing colony defense.
Yellow jacket swarms can occur when a person unwittingly steps on an underground nest. Ground vibrations like mowing a lawn can also provoke a dangerous swarm attack. here
Signature to their species, their abdominal pattern can help entomologists and pest professional identify a specific type of yellow jacket. Besides their distinctive markings, this predatory social species can be identified by their large colonies and their rapid, side-to-side flight patterns prior to landing.
Invert the top cut portion of the bottle into the larger section. This forms a funnel with the hole near the middle of the larger bottom piece. [links]
While they serve an important role in the ecosystem, Yellow Jacket Wasps would never win a public popularity award. These yellow and black stinging wasps are insect predators. While it is not a good idea to seek out and destroy them all, there is no harm in trying to reduce their numbers. For those of us who are beekeepers, controlling the number of wasps near the hives can be important as they also eat bees. One way to combat the attack is to learn how to make a Yellow Jacket Trap.
Carefully cut the top 1/3 of the bottle off. You now have 2 parts. If you had the small plastic lid, you can throw that away – you don’t need it. [links]
Those of you with a large population of wasps nearby will catch more than someone lucky enough to have few area wasps. more
You can use other types of bait for your wasp traps. I hear reports of success with yellow jacket traps that are baited with meat.
You can make your own Yellow Jacket Wasp Trap from common items you may have at home. While there are many different styles of traps – this one is made from an empty soda bottle. here
His grandfather would say it’s the chili steaks.
Suddenly she felt responsible for 200 employees. She began working 16-hour days, cleaning tables, slicing potatoes and devoting herself to the restaurant six days a week. “She turned into my grandfather. She’d go to work in the daytime, come home and make us supper, then go back downtown at night,” said Muir. [links]
“I’ve backed away a lot to let the guys handle it,” she said, mentioning her son Gordon, her son-in-law John Browne and her stepson Steve Simms, all involved in management. “They don’t want their mother looking over their shoulder.”
If you have any interesting or scary yellow jacket or wasp stories, let us know.
Mark Khosravi, an Advanced Placement environmental science teacher at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Va., answered the call. He frequently helps Clifton-area residents relocate snakes and exterminate wasp nests near their homes.
In a warming climate, yellow jackets will survive longer in greater numbers and may cause more damage to honeybee hives. Conversely, very cold winters have been found to kill the wintering yellow jacket queens, preventing new colonies. more
Khosravi doesn’t use chemicals to exterminate nests. Instead, he dumps ice down the entrance hole of a ground nest and then covers the hole with a net to prevent the yellow jackets from exiting. They slowly freeze to death.
Yellow jackets and honey bees feast together. Usually they’re mortal enemies, but they observe a truce in the interest of getting one last, easy meal during the fall. For the moment, there is plenty of food for all. This scene was recorded Nov. 4. (Scott Famous)
Yellow Jackets as a team name [links]