So, is this stuff really bad, or are hornets just gluttons?

Originally Posted by Marilyn

Oh tinknal, on the back of your neck!?! Makes me cringe.

Originally Posted by tinknal

These are yellow jackets. Yellow jacket nests self destruct every fall and they all die. Before they die however they become very aggressive. Nothing is being pollinated right now and all these critters are going to be dead in a few weeks anyway. As far as honey bees, I haven't seen more than a couple all year.

Originally Posted by suitcase_sally

Food for thought (no pun intended), honey bees aren't the only pollinators. I plant purple hull peas every year and the wasps (hornets?) just love them. They crawl all over the stem joint where the beans grow out. I can pick the beans while hundreds of the critters are on the plant and they never get aggressive. We need all the pollenators we can get.

Originally Posted by Rick

And Our two cents....

In fall they BITE us for the meat. I don't care what sex they are, or what they pollinate THEY are DEAD meat.

Originally Posted by suitcase_sally

Food for thought (no pun intended), honey bees aren't the only pollinators. I plant purple hull peas every year and the wasps (hornets?) just love them. They crawl all over the stem joint where the beans grow out. I can pick the beans while hundreds of the critters are on the plant and they never get aggressive. We need all the pollenators we can get.

Originally Posted by tinknal

These are yellow jackets. Yellow jacket nests self destruct every fall and they all die. Before they die however they become very aggressive.

I knew someone who was studying for her PhD in entomology and she said the aggressive yellow jackets you find in the fall are males that can't sting and are just a nuisance not a threat. And their days are numbered.

Just looked it up and found this:

"From late summer into early fall the queen produces queen and male yellowjackets. Each nest can produce thousands of new queens. Queens and males swarm from the nest and mate. The males, workers, and old queens die as winter approaches. Newly mated queens seek overwintering sites in protected places such as logs, under bark or leaf litter, and occasionally in structures. They remain dormant through the winter and begin the cycle once again in the spring."

http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/YLLWJKT.PDF

Originally Posted by Paquebot

Cowpeas are self-fertile and don't need pollinators. The wasps are attracted to what are called nectaries which are on both stems and leaves. They serve no purpose for pollination.

Martin

Originally Posted by fishhead

Today I was out in the woods and suddenly my back started to burn. Then my legs. That's when I heard the buzzing and saw the yellow jackets. I ran a short distance and they followed me. The little buggers were crawling up both legs inside my pants so I dropped my pants and started crushing them. They started to swarm so I pulled the pants up and ran some more and then dropped my drawers again to finish crushing them. One even got me on the jaw. They were even stinging the dog so I had to crush those too. I think I've got at least 8 stings.

Evidently they don't like it when you stand over their ground nest.

They looked like yellow jackets but seemed smaller and shorter. Normally I can block the pain of a yellow jacket sting but not these guys although it's been years since I had any practice.