Garden Hazards: Bald-Faced Hornet

When you work outside all week long, you get used to an insect sting now or then. Usually we just ice it down, wipe it with an insect sting pad, take a little break, and we’re back to work. Sometimes, though, there are encounters from which you just don’t bounce back as quickly, like Kristen’s recent run-in with some Bald-Faced Hornets.

Bald-Faced Hornets (Dolichovespula maculata) are actually wasps, and part of the yellow-jacket genus. They are found across North America and are especially common in the Southeast in or near wooded areas. These social insects build very large nests by mixing chewed wood pulp with their saliva, and after all their hard work, they are very quick to defend the nest. Only females sting, but since they do not lose their stingers they are able to (and frequently do) sting repeatedly – as was the case with Kristen, who accidentally grabbed one or more of these insects while pulling weeds in the butterfly garden, and quickly found herself with a hand that was suddenly the size and shape of a softball*.

Like other social wasps, these hornets have a caste system in which different kinds of hornets do different duties:

• Queens are the fertile females who start the colony and lay eggs.
• Workers are infertile females. They are responsible for all the labor, including gathering food and building the nest, and are equipped with stingers.
• Drones are males (and interestingly are born from unfertilized eggs). They lack stingers, and their job is to mate with future queens.

While the threat of stings may tempt you to immediately kill any wasps or nests you find in your yard, you should resist the temptation unless these nests are in a high-traffic area. Wasps and hornets are an important part of the ecosystem, feeding on other insects to keep them in check and even aiding in pollination in some cases. Kill nests only when absolutely necessary, and take precautions when you do.

*Like any insect that injects venom, Bald-Faced Hornet stings can cause an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. If you are stung by a hornet or other  insects and begin having difficulty breathing or other symptoms, call 911 immediately.