Yellow Jackets;
Time to Reconsider
I have long harbored a decidedly negative view of yellow jackets. It probably stemmed from when I was stung three times under my shirt and was convinced I was having a heart attack.
Then there was Hurricane Bob that tore through Woods Hole destroying all the yellow jacket nests so millions of them were as mad as hornets, perhaps because they are really wasps, a little entomological humor there… very little.
For three weeks after the storm, if a yellow jacket saw you opening your door it would fly in from a hundred feet away and sting you repeatedly. My daughter was stung on three occasions, and the Falmouth Hospital had more admittances than any other time in its history, before Covid.
So, I was prepared to not like the lone yellow jacket that landed on my plate of chicken last night. But she was an industrious worker who ignored us entirely while using her exceedingly sharp mandibles to carve out a quarter inch hunk of white meat, adjust it between her six legs and slowly lift off making a bee line for her nest under my neighbor’s roof.
It was the perfect time to observe a yellow jacket. They are still carnivorous in the summer mostly chowing down on grubs and other garden pests. But as Fall approaches they will start looking for carbs and sugars to help their offspring survive the winter. So look carefully before drinking your soft drink, a hungry yellow jacket may be lurking inside.
All in all, the yellow jacket was a lovely well mannered young lady deserving of our respect… and our respectful distance.