Yellow jackets are the most common WASP found in the eastern United States; they’re not actually bees. Easily identified by their bright yellow and black stripes on their abdomen, yellow jackets are prolific hunters and nest builders. Sometimes yellow jackets are confused with Hornets because of their colors but Hornets have much larger heads and most hornets in our area are black and white striped (bald-faced hornet) or yellow and red/brown (European hornet) These wasps do not pollinate but benefit the ecosystem by controlling smaller insect populations that damage crops and food items.
Only the queen can survive the winter, living off of fat stores she built up during the summer and nesting in tree hollows, spaces in the ground, etc. Queens emerge in early spring (sometimes by accident on a warm winter day) and search for a place to build a nest. Nesting sites might be at the top of a roof peak, behind window shutters, under a pool deck, etc (typically this is the German Yellow jacket) and even underground nests (typically the Eastern Yellow jacket).
Once the first group of eggs hatch, the queen will retire from nest building and only focus on egg laying. Populations can reach 3,000-5,000 by mid to late summer and nest size can easily triple within 2 weeks of ideal weather. All female yellow jackets can sting (repeatedly), often “marking” a person with a pheromone or chemical that will attract more yellow jackets to attack.
