Yellowjackets are a relatively smaller kind of wasp at about ½ in long and are usually bright yellow and black.

Interesting Yellowjacket Facts

– This species builds their nests underground and will often use the abandoned burrow of another animal or other available crevice to get it started.
– The German Yellow Jacket will nest inside structures in places like attics, wall voids, and crawl spaces.
– One colony can produce several thousand workers in one season.
– Every species of Yellow Jacket is slightly different, but some will feed almost exclusively on live insect prey, while others will forage on dead insects, trash, and honeydew of aphids or scale insects. They are most notorious for their fancy for sugary drinks and food at picnic table feasts.
– Yellow Jacket activity will peak when their population is at it’s highest in the late summer/ early fall.

Problems Caused by Yellowjacket Pests

These pests are a little unpredictable and not the friendliest species. Most of the time they will ignore people at a distance, but if a person ventures too close or disturbs the nest, they will give them a nasty sting. Their foraging habits are also very inconvenient for anyone at a picnic or other outdoor get together with food because of their appetite for sugary drinks and carbs. They are considered by many experts to be one of the most dangerous species in the hymenoptera insect class because of their aggressive behavior and potential to induce life threatening allergic reactions in certain individuals with their venomous sting.