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Watch Out For Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets love sweets such as overripe fruit and flower nectar. In the fall, the yellowjacket population is at its yearly peak, while the supply of natural food sources such as nectar is low. The workers will be foraging around trashcans and picnic areas for sweets, and will become fierce if disturbed.
If there are nests in your area, don't take cans of soda, candy, or other sweets outside with you, since this can attract a swarm. The worst thing you can do is swat or crush a yellowjacket. The venom that is released contains a chemical message that instructs yellowjackets to attack, and the resulting swarm will be fearsome.
The preferred targets of yellow jackets are sweet fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, tree fruit, melons and the gardeners who tend them. Damage signs include holes in ripe fruit and a buzzing noise followed by a sharp pain. These fierce insects become more active, and many people believe more aggressive, in the hottest part of the summer. Perhaps they know that their life is drawing to a close, and plan to go out with a vengeance.
Yellow jacket nests are constructed underground or in cavities in walls and trees. They consist of chewed wood pulp connected into combs and surrounded by a papery covering with one opening. Yellow jackets are very protective of their nests, and if you venture to close you'll be met with a fast, headlong charge. Flailing and screaming seems to only encourage the attack, and unlike honeybees, each worker yellow jacket can sting numerous times. The good news is that you're fairly safe at night unless you physically disturb them.
If the nest isn't in an area frequented by people, consider trying to work out a plan of peaceful coexistence. The insect's one redeeming quality is that it is a good pest predator. A yellow jacket will dive into your plants and carry off whole flies and caterpillars to feed to its underground brood. If you find that you can't live with these neighbors, try using traps or destroying the nest.
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