Are Yellow Jackets Destroying your Outdoor Dining?

Imagine you are sitting in your back yard enjoying a drink on a late summer afternoon. You hear a buzz. You are looking around and are not paying attention as you bring your beverage toward your mouth. Then suddenly you get an intense pain on your lip and you realize what happened: you were stung by a yellow jacket that was trying to drink from your can. Sadly, this exact scenario happens often in the summer and early fall all around New Jersey. Some people will simply have a painful sting, other, less fortunate people, will find themselves in the Emergency Room. What can you do to decrease your chance of being stung? Knowing a few important facts about yellow jackets can help.

It is important to be able to identify a yellow jacket. Most yellow jackets are approximately half an inch long. They have black abdomens with a yellow pattern that looks like bands. Other stinging insects, like bumble bees, have a similar coloring, however bees and wasp can be told apart by the shape and texture on their bodies. Bees are much more full-bodied than wasps and they have hairy bodies. In contrast, wasps, are slender with a narrow waist connecting their thorax (mid-section) and abdomen (rear section). Wasps also appear smoother and shinier with slender legs.

Although honey bees and yellow jackets are the same color, their behaviors are not very similar. Yellow jackets are aggressive and forage for many of the foods and drinks that people enjoy. When yellow jackets feel threatened or feel that their food supply is threatened, they will sting. This makes them a particularly troubling pest for people who want to enjoy their yards.

The yellow jacket problem only gets worse as the summer goes on. Under the right conditions, by the end of summer, what started out as a small colony can grow to have over 4,000 workers. Most colonies reach their peak size by August. Therefore the time of year you most want to enjoy your back yard is when the yellow jacket colonies are at their largest.

Yellow jacket colonies are most often found underground. These opportunistic wasps often use rodent burrows or hollow cavities created by rocks. Although they are most commonly found underground, they can also build aerial nests in and around homes. When they create aerial colonies in homes, they are generally found in eaves, attics, and wall voids. Unfortunately, outdoor infestations can quickly become indoor problems as colonies grow. Yellow jackets have been known to actually enter the living space of your home.

If you suspect a yellow jacket colony in your yard or on your home the first thing you should do is make sure your children and pets stay far away from that area. The second thing you should do is to call Cowleys. Being stung by a yellow jacket can be a very serious matter. Half a million people per year need to go to the emergency room due to stings from yellow jackets and other stinging insects. For your own safety, yellow jacket removal is not a DIY project.