![]() ![]() Attacks by yellowjackets can go from a nuisance to a genuine problem and even lead to hive collapse, says Creighton. If a hive weakens, on the other hand, all bets are off. A dozen or so bees can do the trick on one yellowjacket. ![]() Worker bees assigned as guards fight off intruders with stings, and they will also cluster in a ball around individual yellowjackets and “cook” them to death with body heat, which has been recorded at more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s because honey bee ( Apis mellifera) hives have a formidable defense. Schmidt, Ph.D., of the Southwestern Biological Institute in Tucson, Arizona: “In North America,” he says, “yellowjacket predation on honey bees is not a major problem in most cases.” ![]() Beyond that, says Mark Creighton, master beekeeper and apiary inspector for the State of Connecticut, healthy hives are seldom seriously threatened by yellowjackets.Ī similar opinion is voiced by author of the highly regarded book The Sting of the Wild, Justin O. They quickly dismember a bee after killing it, eating some parts and carrying a portion back to feed their own larvae in their own nest. But when yellowjackets do target honey bees, they hang around the entrance of a hive waiting to ambush and pick off individual bees as they come and go. To be sure, yellowjackets-a term used in North America for two genera of social wasps, Vespula and Dolichovespula-are not a leading (or even significant) cause of honey bee colony losses. ![]()
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