The Difference Between Yellow Jackets and Bees
It is in the late days of August and the warm days of September that our outdoor meals are disrupted by hungry yellow jackets. "It's aBEE!" people shout out in terror. They are the same colours as bees and yet they are not bees. They are wasps.
These wasps have been multiplying since spring and they are hungry, looking for protein and sweets to feed on. So they come instantly to your picnic table to feed on your hambergers or hot dogs, or salads, or whatever you are eating or drinking. They love mustard. And they love sweets as well.
As a rule, in my experience, if you don't sip one from your can of pop, or munch one when you bite your hot dog, they will not harm you if they have access to food. They are very persistent in their quest to eat something. And that's where the challenge comes. When we panic and start waving our arms around to encourage them to take off, we create a danger zone. They are aggravated by the fear hormones so instead of simply trying to eat your food, they become aggressive and that's when they sting.
A difference between bees and wasps is that bees don't want to eat your food and they don't want to sting you. Bees have a barbed stinger. When they sting, they lose their stinger and they die. Yellow jackets do not have a barbed stinger and they can sting you over and over again. And that's just what they do when they are frightened or angered. And when they are angered or threatened they emit pheromones that call more yellow jackets to help them.
So what do we do in yellow jacket season to protect ourselves from their moodiness? At our home we have two of those paper imitation wasp nests. They have served us well in the past. Although, one day, this August, one of those yellow jackets was persistent in trying to share my peanut butter and honey toast. I took the sticky plate and a crust of bread out from under the gazebo tent. With no food it left me alone.
In the past I have taken a mustard covered bun and put it on another table, and they left us alone. A recent article in the Grimsby Lincoln News tells us that a Crystal Beach restaurant lines the walls around the restaurant with cups that have orange juice in them and they entice the yellow jackets away from the food of the patrons.
Another thing to think about is staying calm and don't swing your arms about in panic. If you are calm, they stay calm. As a tour guide at a winery during vintage season, taking tours out to the crushers, swarms of yellow jackets would come to check us, well me, out. As I gave my spiel, I would calmly move my arms to keep the little critters away from my face and never got stung in 13 harvests.
As much as the yellow jacket wasps annoy us in late summer, they are still beneficial pollinators that actually trap other iritating insects to feed their young. So, while I recommend you be aware of the danger of yellow jackets, I suggest that you offer them some food away from where you are eating, or use wasp traps or even cups of orange juice to keep their attention from your lunch. And most of all, please stay calm to keep them from becoming aggressive.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
