![]() ![]() When treating ground nests, locate where the insects fly out and treat the nest early in the morning or after dark. Scout for nests during the day when you can see workers entering and exiting, but treat nests only at night when yellow jackets are drowsy and don’t see very well. Prevent Attacks, Scout for Yellow Jackets When stung, some people may react differently than others. This is why even a single sting is dangerous. ![]() This pheromone makes the victim a potential target for other yellow jackets. When a yellow jacket stings, it tags the victim with an alarm pheromone that may last for hours. Yellow jacket stings can trigger dangerous allergic reactions. They are a danger to humans because they can sting repeatedly they do not loss their stingers like honeybees do. Yellow jackets can even bite before they sting - grabbing hold of the skin just to get a better grip with their stinger. Even if you are minding your own business and nowhere near a nest, they will sting you if their nest is disturbed or they feel threatened. Yellow jackets can also become more aggressive in the fall, as the colony starts to die out. Why do yellow jackets sting?īold and aggressive, yellow jackets will attack anything they perceive as a threat. ![]() Thus, mowing lawns can be hazardous during the late summer season when colonies are large. A dangerous swarm of hundreds of yellow jackets from underground nests can also be provoked by ground vibrations like mowing a lawn. ![]() Yellow jackets swarm when someone accidentally or unwittingly steps in, hits, or even comes too close to an underground nest. Since many of the meat sources yellow jackets feed on are pest species, yellow jackets are considered beneficial to agriculture. Larvae benefit from proteins like insects, meats, and fish. In late summer, foraging workers are common pests at picnics when they pursue meats, ripe fruits, human garbage, sodas, and picnics to foster a new generation of queens. They scavenge for sweet liquids like fruits, flower nectar, and tree sap. They will also use materials on the ground with available openings, such as railroad ties or concrete blocks. These are signs of an underground yellow jacket nest. Look for small stones and dirt piling up around the opening of a burrow/hole. Nests are also found in hollow logs, tree stumps, and inside recycling bins where sugars are common. Yellow jackets expand the cavity as the colony develops.Ībove ground nests are commonly seen in cavernous areas like eaves, attics, in wall voids, crawlspaces, and cement slabs or cracks. Underground nests are in holes or burrows abandoned by rodents and other feral animals in litter-covered areas by bushes and shrubs. Constructing their nests from saliva and wood fiber chewed into a fine, paper-like pulp, yellow jacket nests can be hard to spot, but their entrances are typically the size of a nickel. Their nests can be both underground or above ground. Yellow jacket nests flourish in the spring, summer and fall before dying off in the winter. Yellow jackets can be found any place where humans live. Yellow jackets have large colonies and fly with a unique rapid, side-to-side pattern prior to landing. They are commonly mistaken for bees, but they are actually highly aggressive wasps. Yellow jackets get their name from the bright yellow and black stripes on their bodies. They will attack if their nests are disturbed while mowing the grass or walking on your lawn. Yellow jackets love to terrorize backyards and outdoor picnics. The end of summer and fall are peak yellow jacket season in Alabama. ![]()
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