In West Virginia, most of the state has seen a tremendous population explosion of these nasty little critters. I've been trying to clear some underbrush to drop some pines and the ground is absolutely just covered with them. They stay low to the ground until the temp gets to around mid '80's then it's up in your face and it's quitting time. The woods have that low buzzing sound because there's so many of them. I set some water traps; tray of water, 4" wide piece of styrofoam with a Vienna Sausage hung under it. One days worth. Is this all across the country or just local? Have they invaded your area?
I'm in Ontario Canada not that far from Niagara Falls, I've seen NO yellow jackets at all this year and that's unusual, it seems they've all moved to West Virginia
Two hornets' nests courtesy of the sailboat this year, one inside the hull a foot from the electrical panel and main doorway and one inside the Attwood brake unit cover on the trailer. Only 6-8-10 per nest but maybe 1.5" long each. Spray cans took care of both nests, this reminds me I need a new can. Normally I would 'live and let live' especially if in the wild, but I got swarmed once inside the boat and stung a few times and now I do not give them quarter near the boat or garage.
Hornets or paper wasps? Bald-faced hornets build huge round nests. Paper wasps build flat nests. They also only sting straight off the nest. If you knock the nest down and they fly around, they don't sting. Those don't bother me a bit if I see them first. It's the ones you don't see and get too close that get you. They love to build in the trailer hitch. I've learned to flip my fingers into the hitch before putting the key into the lock. Edit: The best spray is Spectricide Pro in the white can. #2 is Black Flag. Drops them like a rock Don't bother with the Spectricide in the green can. They just fly away.
Paper wasps. My stinging incident happened while spraying one nest, not seeing another nest maybe 1 foot above my head inside the cabin of the sailboat. I could not get out fast enough to avoid being stung. Raid seems pretty effective but ruins whatever finish it hits in the boat. I got another kind, similar level of active ingredients but is a foamy water base. Not as much range, slower to stop them, but not as much mess or petroleum smell.
I haven't noticed an increase south of Buffalo. Nests in all of the usual places, mostly behind siding, and a couple in the ground. Sevn Dust is the magical cure. I get those bald faced hornets every year in my tool shed. I use Black Flag. Messy but effective. Pete
I did a search for YJ population explosion 2024. What came up were articles from Calif, Wash, Org, Mo, NC. Apparently we're not the only ones. This year things have been different. Usually YJ's split their nests around mid August. This year new nests started appearing the first week of July. I found two in my yard and one at the cemetery. Coincidentally, a drought started at the same time. We are in an extreme drought now with some parts of the state at the exceptional level. Ten days without rain is a normal dry spell and we are at 73 days and counting. Here at the house we've had two, half hour downpours in that time. We also set a new record for the most days in a row in the 90's. Things are crunchy dry. I went to the cemetery yesterday to check on things since we haven't had to mow and found three nests. Gassed them all.
Many varieties of wildlife have undergone changes during the past fifty years, and from what you wrote, yellow jackets included. I grew up in rural Virginia and spent much time hunting and fishing on my uncles' tobacco farms in the 1950s and 1960s. We kept a pack of rabbit hounds, and there were always plenty of rabbits to hunt---until suddenly there weren't. That happened at the same time that farmers began using weed killing chemicals on their corn and soybean fields. They no longer plowed the fields in the spring; they just sprayed them with weed killer and then drilled in the seeds. At the same time the number of ticks in the woods got so bad you could no longer go in the woods in the summertime---you'd come out covered in ticks. At about the same time many of the the small farms were being bought up by the big timber companies; Champion, Westvaco, Continental Can, etc., which they clear cut and then planted with row after row after row of loblloly pines, whereas before, after the clear-cuts, the land was allowed to grow back naturally with a diverse assortment of trees. The timber companies are conning the public with "We are planting new forests." Bullshit! Those mono-culture tree farms are not forests. They are essentially dead zones. Very little wildlife lives there---there's nothing there for them to eat--- just pine trees, and ticks. Richard
After last years gazillion yellow jackets...I've not seen a single one this year! What in the hell happened.
I haven't seen any paper wasp nests in the big sailboat this year. I am especially relieved after being in/on/under/around/sailing that boat all day yesterday. I still see them flying around from time to time. Maybe they have an every-so-many year cycle?
I've never seen a year go by without new nests showing up in mid August. Last year was first of July. This spring I was going through the pipe rack and forgot to look up before rooting around. A paper wasp hit me on the lens of my glasses. Since they come off the nest ass first, he would have tagged me in the eyeball! I've also found a couple nests this summer built in tall grasses. Never seen that before, I thought they built under overhangs.
