Living With Yellow Jackets

Yellow Jacket Nest Photo: Lee Harper

Fishermen and boaters on the Flint River in Southern Georgia have a new worry: Yellow Jackets. This photo taken by fisherman Lee Harper shows a nest over 4 feet wide attached to a stump in mid stream. Mr Harper reported that the guards began buzzing him when he was about 40 feet away. People in a row boat or canoe could potentially drift too close and be unable to flee fast enough to avoid a large number of stings.

Here in Indiana, yellow jacket colonies disperse every fall and must build again in the spring. In Southern Georgia, nests colonies can continue to grow and build over a span of several years. This allows colonies to reach a much larger size.