Killer bees in east tennessee

[NA4BH]

I just killed one of those bastids.

[n2ize]

Interesting about "Yellow Jackets"...I wonder if they are the same as European Wasps which first appeared in Tasmania in 1959 and eventually found their way to the mainland...They have gradually spread all along Eastern and SE Australia....They are now common everywhere....They make huge paper nests in the ground and hollows and like to be not too far from water...They are super aggressive and many people and pets have been severely injured when attacked by individual wasps and swarms...We have them here around the garden...They like warm weather ...They apparently are attracted to anything sweet like soda drink, BBQ's and you often see swarms of them around the front of stationary cars feeding on insect carcases such as grasshoppers etc...

For some reason the buggers are attracted to me and I often have to get a spray can to zap them...Pretty correct about hair spray or anything like that...They seem to be very fragile and one zap knocks them down...I like to test my "dead eye Dick" accuracy when I have a few get into my workshop...Nearly every time, Bob 1, wasp 0...I have kept a couple of hives of bees for years and havn't found the wasps a problem with them...My bees are downright mean but know me and generally leave me alone...

I added a couple of pics of the European Wasp and wonder if it is similar to your Yellow Jacket...EU wasps reach about 2.5cm in length and can bite continuously..

Bob..VK3ZL..

Our yellow jackets are a bit smaller than that. More like 1.5 - 2.0cm. They are more along the size of a typical honeybee. Much smaller than European or Asian hornets. And like most wasps and hornets the damned yellow jackets can, and often do, give multiple stings. Unlike bee's, hornets, and wasps the damned yellow jackets are as pesty as horse flies. They go after any food, sweet beverages, etc. They are frequent and persistent pests at outdoor picnics, barbecues, etc. Darned annoying buggers