Yellow Jackets and Bald Faced Hornets

        We're getting close to their "season". I've already run across a couple of nests. They are about as big as a softball right now and are nearing "critical mass" where they will explode in size and population, seemingly almost overnight. I get calls from people saying they have a big "bees" nest and it wasn't there yesterday. It was there, it was just much smaller and easily overlooked.
         Bald Faced (sometimes called White A**ed) hornets typically build nests that hang from tree branches, in shrubbery, or attached to a building (typically at the peak of the roof, on flood light fixtures, or under the soffit).

         On the right, is a picture of a Bald Faced Hornet's nest. Below that is a picture of the hornet.

      Yellow jackets (picture below) will build nests in a variety of places. They will build nests similar to Bald Faced hornet nests in the same type of location (shrubs, trees, and on buildings). They will also build nests in the ground in abandoned rodent burrows, under or in wood piles and brush piles, leaf piles, and under anything laying on the ground. They also have a nasty habit of building nests in the structure of homes and subsequently chewing through ceilings and walls (usually ceilings). If you ever notice what appears to be a wet spot, about the size of a dime, on a ceiling or wall, anytime after mid-July, DO NOT poke your finger or anything else into it, because you will put it right through into the nest and you will quickly have a room full of yellow jackets.
       These two members of the wasp family (they are NOT "bees") can be extremely dangerous and cause most of the allergic "bee stings" that occur every summer. They are extremely aggressive, attack in multiple numbers, and each one can sting multiple times. They do not lose their stinger and, therefore, live to "sting another day". Yellow jackets are the "bees" you see trying to get a bite of your hamburger or a sip of your soda at summer outings and picnics.

Here are a couple of videos of these critters:

 http://youtu.be/TYmc1kLpA_M

 http://youtu.be/wZieAHmWmR4