While yellow jackets closely resemble bees in coloration, they are actually wasps. Like bees they also sting, but unlike bees they are able to sting their victims repeatedly. Colonies of yellow jackets live in nests that are usually underground, but in urban areas they may make their homes above ground in areas of buildings or other human-made structures.

About Yellow Jackets

Being stung by a yellow jacket is not uncommon and usually results in a painful but relatively harmless sting unless someone is allergic. However, with colonies that can number in hundreds of thousands, multiple stings can easily occur and that can result in more serious trauma.

Yellow Jacket Control

If you find a yellow jacket nest on your property try to keep your distance from the nest because the insects will aggressively defend their home. The best option is to contact your local pest control company immediately. They can come out to the premises, assess the situation and use a variety of pest control methods and materials to get rid of the nest.

About the Bald Faced Hornet

The bald faced hornet is a relatively large wasp whose territory spans most of the United States and southern Canada. It closely resembles its close relative, the yellow jacket, but it lacks the bright yellow coloring and instead has white accents covering its body. It is also a larger wasp by around ¼ inch on average. Also unlike the yellow jacket, the bald faced hornet builds paper nests in the trees instead of living underground. Bald faced hornets will aggressively defend their nests. The larger females will sting any attackers multiple times. Their sting is similar to other wasps, resulting in a painful, itchy area for about 24 hours. However, if you are allergic the sting can cause a serious reaction and medical attention should be sought immediately.

Bald Faced Hornet Control

Since the only requirement for a bald faced hornet nest is a sturdy limb, they will often build a nest in an undesirable location – such as near your workplace. The nests are filled with hundreds of hornets and should be treated with caution.  In order to remove the nest, the hornets must be subdued using a variety of pest control methods and materials.

About the Paper Wasp

Paper wasps are named because of their large, umbrella shaped nests that appear to be made of paper. Unlike other hornets and wasps, the paper wasp is not aggressive and will generally only attack if its nest is threatened. There is no actual ‘Paper Wasp’, it is actually a group of 300 or so species that all make the same paper-like nests, which is why the appearance of Paper Wasps can vary so much. There have been 21 species’ identified in the United States alone.

Paper Wasp Control

While paper wasps aren’t usually aggressive, they will make their nests on or in man-made structures. Since they will defend their nests they need to be removed.