Yellow jackets are a common presence in many environments, often encountered during outdoor activities. Unlike honey bees, which can only sting a single time, yellow jackets possess the ability to sting repeatedly. This characteristic is a key difference that influences how they interact with their surroundings and respond to perceived threats.
How Yellow Jackets Sting Repeatedly
A yellow jacket’s stinger is smooth, lacking the barbs found on a honey bee’s stinger. This smooth design allows the yellow jacket to easily withdraw its stinger from skin after injecting venom, without causing injury to itself. As a result, the same yellow jacket can deliver successive stings, injecting venom with each penetration.
In contrast, a honey bee’s stinger is barbed. When a honey bee stings, its barbed stinger becomes lodged in the skin, often tearing away from the bee’s body along with parts of its internal anatomy, leading to the bee’s death. This biological difference means that a honey bee’s defensive act is a fatal event, while a yellow jacket can continue to defend itself or its colony through repeated stings. Each yellow jacket sting typically delivers a small amount of venom, ranging from approximately 2 to 15 micrograms.
Identifying Yellow Jackets
Yellow jackets are a type of social wasp, typically measuring about 1/2 inch in length for workers, with queens being slightly larger at around 3/4 inch. They have slender bodies with a noticeable thin waist, smooth, mostly hairless exoskeletons, and elongated wings that are folded lengthwise when at rest. Their most recognizable feature is their bright, distinct black and yellow banded pattern, which differentiates them from the fuzzier, more golden-brown honey bees.
Yellow jackets are known for their aggressive nature, especially when their nests are disturbed or when they forage for food. They are scavengers, commonly attracted to sweet liquids and proteins, which often brings them into contact with human activities like outdoor dining. These wasps frequently build their paper nests in protected, concealed locations, such as underground burrows, hollow logs, wall voids, attics, or under eaves. Observing a characteristic rapid, side-to-side flight pattern before landing can also aid in their identification.
Dealing with Yellow Jacket Stings
If a yellow jacket sting occurs, prompt action can help alleviate discomfort. The initial step involves cleaning the affected area thoroughly with soap and water. Applying an ice pack or cold compress to the sting site can help reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation. Over-the-counter pain relievers, topical antihistamines, hydrocortisone cream, or calamine lotion may also be used to manage localized pain, swelling, redness, and itching.
For most people, a yellow jacket sting results in a localized reaction, characterized by pain, swelling, redness, and itching that typically subsides within a few hours or days. To minimize the risk of being stung, it is advisable to avoid disturbing yellow jacket nests. When outdoors, covering food and drinks, disposing of trash promptly, and avoiding strongly scented products like perfumes can help deter these insects. If a yellow jacket is nearby, moving away slowly rather than swatting at it can prevent provoking an attack.