Winter comes fast in the Northeastern United States, as we all learned on Tuesday. After a relatively mild winter, New England was hit with a huge blizzard earlier this week that put the region, and all its insect inhabitants, into a deep freeze. Every winter, blasts of Arctic air flow down over the Northeast relentlessly
VIEW MOREThe now (hopefully) concluded yellow jacket season of 2014 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts will be one to remember for a very long time. It has only been a few weeks since I had my last appointment to destroy a yellow jacket nest (for a local real estate company), so I’m crossing my fingers that that
VIEW MOREA few weeks ago, I drove a seldom-used vehicle into town. On the way, droves of red wasps came out from around the windshield wipers. After about 20 miles, no more wasps came out. Since then, I’ve driven the car, taken it in for a wash and wax, and then an oil change with no
VIEW MOREA simple question, with a complicated answer. Yellowjackets and other wasps use their stingers for two purposes: (1) to incapacitate their insect prey, and (2) to help defend the nest against invaders. Solitary wasps, like cicada killers and mud daubers, do not have the same incentive to defend the nest as do social wasps that
VIEW MOREAt Colonial, our phones have been ringing off the hook with wasp calls. Yellowjackets and other wasps are very active now. In late summer, wasp nests are at their greatest capacity, so wasps are pretty visible. But in a few weeks, you will see a dramatic drop in the number of wasps as the seasonal
VIEW MOREI thought that yellowjackets nested in a hole in the ground but we seem to have a yellowjacket nest by our back deck under the roof overhang. The nest is a large comb with lots of yellowjackets flying in and out. Is this a normal nest site? M.B., Boston, MA It Looks Like a Yellowjacket
VIEW MOREOne of our technicians got this question from a customer the other day. At first I said that doesn’t make any sense. There’s no reason why yellowjackets would hang out around lettuce plants. But then I thought about it further and realized that there are a couple of reasons why this could occur. So, Ms.
VIEW MOREHelp! We have yellowjackets inside our house! Every day we find 2 or 3 yellowjackets buzzing around upstairs, banging at windows. We can’t figure out how they are getting in. More importantly, why are they getting in? – C. E., Rye, NH The first thing is to have the wasps identified to make sure that
VIEW MOREBee and Wasp Sting Symptoms Most reactions to bee and wasp stings are mild, resulting in a slight swelling and an itching or stinging sensation that disappears within a day or two. People who are allergic to wasp or bee stings can have an immediate life‑threatening reaction called anaphylactic shock that requires medical intervention. Symptoms
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