While you might find their iconic summer homes in a tree in your yard, some tuck them under the eaves of houses or hide them cheekily in ornamental hedges.Ĭonstruction begins in late spring, when a queen builds a small core nest and lays a batch of eggs. They’re named for the black and white patches on their heads, as if they’re wearing Guy Fawkes masks. “They don’t have honey.” If the Hundred Acre Wood were the real world, Pooh Bear would reach into the nest and instead scoop out a pawful of bald-faced hornets.īald-faced hornets, which are technically yellowjackets but nest above ground, are found in much of the United States. “Winnie the Pooh gets it wrong,” said Norman Patterson, a wasp removal specialist based in Connecticut. Jandt, whose research now focuses on why some wasp colonies are more aggressive than others. “Odds are pretty good that if you stumble across a wasp nest, you’re going to get stung at least about 10 times - while running away,” said Dr. Vibrating a nest is the insect equivalent of setting off a security alarm: Now you’re the uninvited guest, and it’s time to leave. These are hidden underground, or in attics, ceilings or walls, and can be home to thousands of insects. with her research subjects every day, an experience she said helped her learn to appreciate the insects’ personalities, and “really forced me to be calm all the time.”īut if, instead of a few foragers, you find yourself dealing with an endless, vengeful stream of yellowjackets, you might have accidentally disturbed a nest. When she collected data for her master’s thesis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she shared a P.B. “Let it land, let it do its thing,” she said. If one is trying to dominate your picnic as well, Dr. Jandt said: “They’re really important decomposers.” The invasive species, which first established itself on the East Coast about 50 years ago, is now found across much of the country and is the dominant yellowjacket in many states. German yellowjackets make short work of carcasses and rotting produce, Dr.
Most of these eggs become workers, who spend the summer feeding their proliferating population of younger siblings: grabbing live caterpillars, bits of roadkill or your tuna salad, then chewing it into mincemeat for the next generation. Each colony is founded by a single queen, who starts laying eggs in late spring and doesn’t stop until her death, in autumn.
Why are there so many of them at this time of year? Like ants and honeybees, German yellowjackets are social insects. “They seem like they’re trying to ruin our day,” said Jennifer Jandt, a zoologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand who has studied the species for years. Beer or wine is even more tempting, because it reminds them of their favorite treat, fermenting fruit. Trying to hijack your soda can? They want to slurp up the sugar, which powers their surprisingly zippy flight. Are they hovering around your ham sandwich? They’re looking for protein to bring to larvae back at the nest. They’re German yellowjackets, and they will not leave you alone. They’re striped and kind of stocky, with black dots on their faces. Uninvited guests have arrived at your picnic.
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