Bald-faced!
Printer-friendly version
The other night I went out to use my gas grill and I noticed a gray circular thing attached to a nearby shrub. Oh no! A wasp nest!
It was a good thing I saw it because I usually take plastic cover off the grill and throw it on the fence right at that spot. I would have had to run run run!
While my burgers were cooking I took the time to observe the nest. It is small, only about the size of a baseball. The wasps' bodies were mostly black, with white markings on the head and tail. It turns out that these are bald-faced hornets. I have never seen them before, although they are common throughout the US.
We have had wasp nests in our yard before so I know a little about them in general. Bald-faced hornets are not hornets at all—they are yellowjackets.They are basically "good" bugs
who eat garden pests. Generally they build their nests high in trees or along the eaves of buildings. The nest can get as big as a basketball, and they use the nest for one year and then move on.
However, and this is a big one, like other yellowjackets and wasps, bald-faced hornets are aggressive defenders of their nests. This means that a nest that is high in a tree or along the eaves of a house can be left alone, but one that is in an area that has a lot of foot traffic, or is near food, should be removed. This means using insect spray at night (when they are asleep). And if you need light, use a flashlight covered with red plastic—because they cannot see red, so they will not see the light.
For more information on the bald-faced hornet, go to Penn State's Entomology Web site.
- srandel's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Send as Email
I have been stung by a hornet before, and let me just say that it makes a bee sting seem like a walk in the park! However, it is nice to know that if I ever need to camoflauge myself from hornets in the future I can just wear a suit of red. Thanks for the informative blog Susan, before today I had never even heard of the bald-faced hornet.
Being a city girl- I am not a big fan of insects. However, the images you put up are pretty cool as being here in NYC- you dont see this in your backyward. I like that they are considered good bugs. This is what I explain to my 6 year old son (as he also is not a big fan of bugs/insects) " everything in nature has a purpose and we should appreciate their existence. Its ok to be intimidated by them but as all animals we should respect their space". Thanks for the post :)
Scary! Will you leave it there? With kids I would think twice. We have had wasp and bee nests in our yard before and we make a point of knocking them down before they get any bigger. My father is allergic to bees, so we don't want to take a chance that his allergy was passed to our kids. He has ended up in the emergency room more than once. Good for the flowers? Yes. Scary for humans? Double yes!
The scientist in me knows that insects like the bald-faced hornet are essential to our ecosystem....but the human in me runs screaming in the other direction from anything that flies and stings. I'm not allergic to them, just scared of the pain! I mostly just try to avoid such nests when I see them around my house, to the point of finding alternate routes to my destination (even if that does mean climbing over a fence on the opposite side of my yard!). I do, however, find them fascinating and I have no problem watching them (or similar insects) work all day long from the comfort of my kitchen window...with a nice glass barrier to keep me safe!