The summer time is here and the weather has heated up. When the weather warms up people head out to do activities to help cool down such as swimming. When swimming you may start to notice that wasps and yellow jackets are also near the water and dipping in. They are not actually swimming but they are stopping for a drink of water. You may also end up with a sting or two during the summer and you may start to wonder why they are out and why they seem to be so aggressive? A-Tex Pest Management outlines why wasp are so aggressive during the summer and fall months.
What is the Difference Between a Yellow Jacket and a Paper Wasp?
A yellow jacket is actually a species of wasp. They are identifiable by their very particular set of yellow and black coloring and the fact that they are quite a bit bigger than their neighbor the bee. Yellow jackets usually nest underground while the paper wasp will use fibers from plants around the area and chew it up and add saliva to build a nest. This mimics the look of paper machete. Paper wasps and yellow jackets are like many other pests in the fact that they live with a colony and will defend and care for their queen. The colony will usually start out small around the early part of spring. The queen is the only wasp that will lay eggs and the colony begins. AS it grows the nest grows and the amount of workers grows too. The queen will stay in the nest and never leaves but instead depends on the worker wasps to collect food and protect them.
Why are Wasps More Aggressive at the End of Summer?
When the colony begins they are working to keep themselves growing and focus on protecting the queen. The colony is also fairly small and as the season wears on it grows bigger and bigger. During this time the aggressiveness is fairly low and they will stay away from people as much as possible. The later in the summer it gets, the fight to stay alive amps up. The queen and all the workers in her colony are going to die off and the mating male and females are now left to start over the life cycle. The mating female will need to be protected to ensure that the colonies will continue. The colony may seem more erratic and the leftover members are in search of a spot to set up their new colony. This is when wasps seem to get in close to people. The wasps are out looking for food for the larvae and can be found traveling around more. That are still not likely to sting unless they feel threatened and in danger. They would prefer to pick up a bite to eat off the table and move on.
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