Lake County has a range of insects from the mosquito to the house fly. However, the title for the least popular insect goes to the yellowjacket, which is not a bee but actually a wasp. It has a close cousin in the county called a paper wasp.
Just about everyone has had yellowjackets swarm around their backyard, especially when they are barbecuing meat. Occasionally a person is bitten by the yellowjacket, which are often called “meat bees” because they look like a bee and feed on meat.
According to scientists at the University of California, yellowjackets are by far one of the most troublesome group of insects, especially ground- and cavity-nesting ones such as the western yellowjacket, which tends to defend its nest vigorously when disturbed. Defensive behavior increases as the season progresses and colony populations become larger while food becomes scarcer.
During the summer and fall foraging yellowjackets are primarily scavengers. That’s when they start to show up at picnics and barbecues, around garbage cans, at dishes of dog or cat food placed outside and where ripe or overripe fruit are accessible. At certain times and places the number of scavenger yellowjackets can be quite large.
Paper wasps are much less defensive and rarely sting humans. They tend to shy away from human activity except when their nests are located near doors, windows or other high-traffic areas.
Colonies of yellowjackets are initiated by the queen. After emerging from hibernation (called diapause) when the winter ends, the fertilized queen searches for a nest site. When it has located a suitable site a small nest is formed. The queen continues to forage for construction materials and food such as spiders and other insects as well as any meat until four to seven workers have emerged. At this point the queen focuses solely on laying eggs and the nest continues to expand.
A yellowjacket’s life is a short one, lasting only a few days. Their goal is to reproduce and once that happens they die.
Yellowjackets can be troublesome and most people to their best to avoid them. Bees on the other hand are vital to our life and without them there would be no flowers or other plants. Their sting can be fatal to some.
One area in Lake County that has a large yellowjackt population is Highland Springs, located just outside of Lakeport.The place is loaded with them and the users of the lake battle yellowjackets daily.
Getting along with bees and yellowjackets is just part of living in the county. You don’t have to make pets out of them, just learn to live with them.
