Yellow jackets are social insects, living in organized colonies where each member plays a specific role. A yellow jacket colony revolves around its queen. Her presence is central to the colony’s existence and growth, as she is the sole reproductive female.
The Queen’s Role in the Colony
The yellow jacket queen’s primary responsibility is laying eggs, essential for colony expansion and continuation. In spring, she initiates a new colony by constructing a small paper nest. She lays the first eggs, feeding the larvae until they mature into sterile female workers. Once these workers emerge, they assume tasks like nest expansion, foraging, and caring for subsequent broods. This allows the queen to focus exclusively on egg-laying for the remainder of the season. Her continuous egg production ensures a steady increase in the colony’s population. The queen also influences colony behavior, suppressing worker female reproduction.
The Annual Life Cycle of a Yellow Jacket Colony
The annual life cycle begins with a single, fertilized queen emerging from hibernation in spring. She seeks a suitable nesting site, often an abandoned rodent burrow or protected cavity. The queen then builds a small paper nest and lays her first eggs. She feeds the developing larvae until they emerge as the first generation of sterile female workers.
These workers then take over foraging, nest expansion, and caring for subsequent generations. This allows the queen to dedicate her energy to continuous egg production, rapidly increasing the colony’s size.
As the season progresses, the colony produces new reproductive queens and males. These new queens and males leave the nest to mate, after which the males die. The newly fertilized queens seek sheltered locations to overwinter. The original queen and remaining workers perish with cold weather, and the old nest is rarely reused.
Identifying the Queen Yellow Jacket
Distinguishing a yellow jacket queen from workers involves observing physical and behavioral differences. The queen is noticeably larger than workers, typically measuring around 19 millimeters (0.75 inches) long, compared to workers at 12 millimeters (0.47 inches). Her body appears more robust and less hairy. Behaviorally, the queen is usually found within the nest, especially during early colony establishment. Unlike workers, she does not forage outside the nest once the worker force is established. In early spring, a larger yellow jacket searching for a nesting site is likely a queen.