Think again. The elegant and complex nests shown below were built this summer in two of my three swarm traps. I’ve been using the same three flowerpot-shaped traps for perhaps ten years, hanging them each year from the same three trees. In early spring, we go trudging up the hill with a ladder and the […] Read more
Beekeepers here in North America are all too familiar with the bald-faced hornet Dolichovespula maculata. Depending on where you live, this wasp may also be referred to as a white-faced hornet, blackjacket, or bull hornet. The bald-faced hornet is actually a close relative of the aerial yellowjacket Dolichovespula arenaria, which also can give beekeepers a […] Read more
Colony death by yellowjacket is common, but I’ve never heard as many yellowjacket stories as I have this year. People describe how colonies that seemed strong a month earlier are now gone, replaced by yellowjacket scavengers. Or they describe seeing yellowjackets freely entering the hive and seizing prey, undeterred by guards. What is going on? […] Read more
A long stretch of freezing weather is the best wasp control. Many of the overwintering queens succumb to the cold, which limits the nest density the following spring. But after a mild winter such as we had on the Pacific Northwest coast, the queens thrive in vast numbers. This is the worst year I have […] Read more
Last winter was mild here in western Washington, so I predicted a surge in yellowjackets and bald-faced hornets this summer. Sure enough, they are everywhere and I’m bracing for battle. Come autumn, when the wasps are looking for a treat, the honey bee colonies will be prime targets. Like bumble bee queens, mated yellowjacket and […] Read more
Although I can’t actually see the victim, I’m taking the photographer’s word on it: inside this marauding ball of bees is a bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata. Sometimes timing is everything, and I was just lining up a little pile of bald-faced bodies here in Washington when this photo arrived from Craig Scott in Delaware. Craig […] Read more
If you live in a place where autumn hoards of yellowjackets or bald-faced hornets enjoy baskets of honey bee tenders, now is a good time to do something about it. Colonies of social wasps do not overwinter in the northern climates. Instead, virgin queens mate in the fall and then go off by themselves to […] Read more