Ground hornets

[greg spike]

I've always had a lot of small yellow and black striped ground hornets arround my place. I haven't paid them any mind because they are the leat aggessive hornets I've ever seen. I can stomp on a huge hole of them, run them over with the lawnmower and otherwise taunt them.....they don't bother me at all.

But, this morning, there were a dozen or so wraping up bee corpses below one of my hives. A couple were even harrassing the guard bees. They are probably just desperate for protein, in a last ditch effort to reproduce before the cold sets in, but should I worry about them? Will they attack enmass?

[sc-bee]

>I've always had a lot of small yellow and black striped ground hornets arround my place.

Yellow Jackets maybe??? Description fits.


>I haven't paid them any mind because they are the leat aggessive hornets I've ever seen. I can stomp on a huge hole of them, run them over with the lawnmower and otherwise taunt them.....they don't bother me at all.

 Temperament doesn't fit . Don't sound like yellow jackets, they will lite you up in a heartbeat  !

If it is yellow jackets --- some folks have problem with them attacking hives. So far I am lucky. Right now I do see more than usual. This time of year their food supply begins to run short and thier population is at peak, They will go for about anything this time of year including your picinic lunch ! However they do prefer protein, like bee grubs.

A small trap can be made or purchased @ a hardware store or Wally World.

[greg spike]

Yeah, I've been chewed up by yellowjackets before; but these guys are downright placid. I don't really want to kill them as long as they don't bother me or the bees. I figure, if they are eating dead bees, maybe they munch on garden pests too.
 I reduced my entrances just to be safe.

Thanks SC-bee.

[pbaumeister]

Yellowjackets that live in the ground are called Prarie yellowjackets. Sometimes they are not aggressive, but usually they are extremely aggressive. They are known to attack in large numbers. I would never allow them to be on my property. I have known kids to get stung multiple times from them and I know of a man that almost died from them attacking him. He was according to the doctors stung 300+ times.

[JP]

Yellow jackets that can be taunted? This sounds most unusual. I just can't imagine them not going for broke if you're standing over their nest. If away from the nest you are getting foragers, they don't bother anyone but perhaps accidentally.

If you indeed have some that are friendly-er than most, know where their nests are and just don't let the nest get huge and out of hand or there just may be a serious incident.

Careful, they can sting and resting and resting, and resting, owwwwwwwww!


...JP