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These pages will help you get rid of dangerous or threatening yellowjacket wasp nests and reduce the potential for stings from these insects.

Wasp identification

Yellowjacket wasps are medium size (~1/2") distinctive black and yellow insects (see photo right), some species such as the misnamed "baldfaced hornet", however, are white over black. Yellowjackets maintain relatively large colonies inside an a completely enclosed nest. Paper wasps, on the other hand, make an open face nest in which the individual cells are clearly visible (see The European Paper Wasp).

Yellowjacket wasps (Vespula spp.) are sometimes called simply "wasps", "social wasps" or "social vespids". The common names we use for wasps can be very confusing. The most common social wasps that cause problems for people worldwide are discussed below. These wasps make large, papery nests either below ground or above ground. Some species have adopted a scavenger habit that brings them into contact with people that makes them more dangerous.

There are many species of yellowjackets but most people only encounter the scavenger species. Scavenger species feed on both living and non-living prey so are drawn to any food within their search area such as a dead animal, fallen tree fruit or our picnic food. These species also tend to build larger and thus more threatening nests. Most social wasp species, on the other hand, are strictly predatory and have no interest in our picnic food or fruit trees (see What Are Scavenger Yellowjackets?).