School IPM

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What's the buzz? Yellowjackets in the schoolyard

Yellowjackets can cause problems around schools. Although they are often beneficial, preying on other insects, they can sting many times if provoked. In this way, yellowjackets differ from bees, which sting only once. Yellowjackets will aggressively defend their nest if it is disturbed. Yellowjackets have either black and yellow or black and white stripes. They are fast fliers and are more aggressive than other wasps. When yellowjacket numbers peak in late summer or early fall, they become pests. Garbage, lunch counters and playgrounds attract yellowjackets looking for food sources. Usually, yellowjackets foraging for food won't sting unless they are physically threatened. But if someone steps on an underground nest opening or disturbs a nest in a shrub or building, yellowjackets are likely to sting many times. Look for nests in the ground, under eaves and in wall voids. Wasps often build ground nests under shrubs, logs, piles of rocks and other protected sites. Garbage containers on school grounds should have tight-fitting lids and be emptied frequently. Lids, containers and Dumpsters should be cleaned often with a strong stream of water. Repair windows and screens and caulk holes in siding to prevent yellowjackets from establishing nests inside a building. Nest removal and trapping can significantly reduce yellowjacket populations. It is best to have a pest control operator with experience in stinging insects remove nests. Eliminating yellowjacket populations with chemicals should be a last resort and used only in a situation where stings are frequent.

For more information about yellowjackets and the treatment of stings, please visit the University of Florida's School IPM Web site (http://schoolipm.ifas.ufl.edu/).

Edited by: Angela Brammer, University of Florida