Out
On A Limb / October 2005
Wisps and Wasps
Yellow Jackets are very aggressive wasps, about a half inch long, with alternating yellow and black bands on their abdomen and a thin waist. A bane of house painters and picnic-ers, yellow jackets are often considered beneficial in home gardens and for commercial growers of fruits and vegetables because they feed abundantly on insect pests like caterpillars, certain spider and harmful flies. They also feed on sweet nectar from flowers. Unfortunately, in late summer and early fall when their populations peak, the yellow jackets’ normal insect diet disappears. With their usual feeding habits thwarted, they turn to the same comfort food humans enjoy- junk food.
When spiders and flower nectar are in short supply, the yellow jackets favorite late-season foods include carbonated beverages, juices, candy, ham, bologna, fish, cakes, fruit, and ice cream. They will steal honey from beehives.
Fortunately, every winter, all the wasps die except new, mated queens, who burrow into leaves or soil to survive. Unfortunately, yellow jacket stings can be life-threatening to those allergic to their venom. Plus, when yellow jackets get irritated, and they get very irritated, they can sting multiple times.
The preferred targets of yellow jackets are sweet fruit like strawberries, blueberries, tree fruit, melons and gardeners standing in their way. Wasp signs include holes in ripe fruit and a buzzing noise followed by a sharp pain. These fierce insects become more active, and many people believe, more aggressive, in the hottest part of the summer.
In the fall, when their population is at its peak and natural food sources like bugs and nectar are low, worker yellow jackets will forage around trashcans and picnic areas for sweets. They tend to be quite vengeful if disturbed, so walk away slowly. Swatting or crushing a yellow jacket is an especially bad idea. Swift movements attract more wasps. Plus, the venom that is released when the wasp is swatted or crushed contains a chemical message instructing other yellow jackets to attack.
The resulting swarm can be fearsome.
Homeowners, gardeners, painters and roofers should avoid taking soda, candy, or other sweets outside or anywhere near the nest in the daytime, since it can attract a swarm. At night, unless physically disturbed, yellow jackets normally do not attack.
Yellow jackets build nests with a single entrance for laying eggs and protecting the young. The nests, found underground, in cavities, in walls, on trees or under overhangs, are constructed into combs with paper they create by chewing wood and plant fibers. The wasps are extremely protective of their nests, meeting intruders with a full frontal assault. Flailing and screaming seems to encourage the attackers. Unlike honeybees, with a barbed stinger that can only be used once, worker yellow jackets have smooth stingers they can- and will- use several times over.
Yellow Jackets are social insects that live in colonies and work together.
Newly mated queens are the only colony members that survive winter. Typically, the yellow jacket colony’s life begins when the overwintered queen emerges in April and begins establishing a nest in a soil cavity, hollow tree or someone’s porch. The queen builds her small, paper nest and lays several eggs to hatch and mature to adult workers. The first generation of workers handles nest expansion, forages for food, defends the colony entrance and feeds the queen and larvae The colony rapidly increases in size and by August, may have several hundred adult yellow jackets.
During peak population period, the colony produces future queens and reproductive males that leave the nest for mating flights. Mated queens fall to the ground and seek out a protected overwintering site. Males that have successfully mated quickly die. The parent colony begins to dwindle in fall and the founding queen and all workers die with cold temperatures. A new colony cycle begins the next spring.
To kill the vexatious insects, spray nests with a pyrethrum aerosol, at night, when chances of being stung are reduced. For a quick fix to stings, try moistened table salt. Immediately mound dry salt on the sting and moisten with a few drops of water. Leave the salt on for several minutes. PL, MG
Copyright © 2005-2006 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
Femme Fair 2006
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