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["Mathew Waehner" <waehner@gmail.com>]

There was a news story last year about a giant yellow jacket nest in Alabama that filled an abandoned car.  Apparently they can build a huge colony when they aren't killed by frost.

http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5149376&nav=8fap

I seem to recall reading about it in a different publication than the link attached. In that version of the story, the farmer said that he had to access one of his barns at 3:30 in the morning to avoid being stung, but that he had saved a ton of money on pesticides.

As I understand it, yellow jackets eat insects for their primary food, but their bodies are too light and compact to carry much digestive apparatus.  They regurgitate food for the larvae, and receive sugar excretions in return.  When the last brood of larvae mature in late summer, the adults begin looking for sugar instead of meat; at that point they become less of a beneficial predator and more of a nuisance.

Of course, "yellowjacket" is a general term for several species- I'm sure they all present different management challenges.

On Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 2:25 PM, Donna &/or Kieran <holycow@cookeville.com> wrote:

There seem to be many species of yellow jackets.  The ones we saw out in Washington state looked a little longer and skinnier.  Both in the PNW and in Europe, yellow jackets will build nests above ground in trees or in walls like bald faced hornets do. 

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