North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>]

Hal Love wrote:
> Having lived in areas where the different types of "yellow jackets" 
> can be found, it is clear folks are talking about completely different 
> species. I grew up in Arkansas and there a yellow jacket was a big, 
> hornet-like, aggressive paper wasp that we feared very much. The nest 
> were found just about anywhere that one may find the brown paper wasp 
> nests. The underside of the eves of houses was probably the most 
> common location.
>
> Here in middle TN, we only seem to have the brown paper wasps, and the 
> only yellow jackets are the ground wasps that are much smaller and 
> very different looking than the paper wasps. They look more like bees 
> and the entrances to the tunnels are about 0.5 inches in diameter. If 
> you get too close to the entrance and distrub them, they will swarm 
> out and aggressively chase and sting. I was once chased 300 feet 
> before they stopped, but usually they will defend up to about 100 
> feet. They don't seem to initiate an attack unless you get really 
> close to the entrance and create some sort of disturbance (a lawn 
> mower works really well). These things swarm all over rotting pears 
> that the squirrels constantly drop to the ground, so I would think 
> pear or apple juice would make a great bait for a trap.
>
> Hal
Oh gosh, lawnmowers and yellow jackets....
I was tempted to tell this story after I read the thread that follows 
this one about Bald-faced hornets. (I thought Jim was about to say he 
found a nest in the ground, not just low to the ground.) Now that you 
mention lawn mowers, I have to tell it.
In one corner of my yard, there is an entry way that allows me to drive 
my truck into the yard when I need to. Decades ago, someone used a 
couple of railroad ties to build up one side to keep the area level. 
They have been hollow for a long time and make a good nest for yellow 
jackets. Well, about 3 or 4 summers ago, I was mowing right over one of 
the railroad ties and I got an incredible burning sting in my ankle. I 
had light shorts on and "he" went for the black socks I was wearing. 
Caution, scenic side trip ahead: I once got stung by a bald-faced 
hornet. My brother disturbed a nest which I never saw. I was coming down 
the same path and he yelled to warn me. As I stood there thinking what 
to do, I saw a black object 30 feet away flying at high speed toward me. 
Before I could even raise my hand, he hit me with a sting right on the 
eyebrow. That was bad but honestly, the sting that got me on the ankle 
hurt worse.
Back to the lawnmower story: So I instinctively swatted at the sting on 
my ankle and saw a whole swarm of what appeared to be Bald-faced hornets 
near the ground. I ran away leaving the lawnmower running. After the 
pain in my ankle subsided to moderate torture, I returned with a long 
rope which I manages to tangle around the handle and pull the still 
running mower several feet away. I turned it off and again left the 
area. I brought out the wet vac and did my usual trick of catching all 
the flying adults by placing the vacuum tube right next to the entry hold.
Later, I opened the vac and found 60 some of what appeared to be hornets 
drowned in the soapy water I had inside. They seemed to have markings 
exactly like Bald-faced hornets but they looked a little small to me. 
That lead to an internet search. I discovered a thing called "Northern 
Yellowjackets". I had been wondering why on earth hornets were nesting 
under ground. Now I realized what I had.  Indeed, they are a little 
smaller than hornets and the marking have a slightly different pattern, 
which I could confirm with a closer comparison.
I learned that they have the habit of parasitizing the nests of regular 
yellow colored Yellowjackets, then they move on to another nest. I left 
the remainder of the colony alone and in a week or two, they did indeed 
leave the area. Man can those things sting! I never had a sting like 
that. The pain lasted 3 days and the area was sore to touch for about 2 
weeks. The sting seemed to kill a small area of flesh and left a crater 
that didn't fill in for about a month.

Steve in the Adirondacks