Have you noticed yourself dodging more stinging insects outside lately? Or have you been one of the many to actually get stung?
Welcome to “Angry Wasp Season.”
While many mistake them for bees, the stinging insects causing problems right now are generally yellow jackets.
Mark Sheperdigian is the vice president of technical services at Rose Pest Solutions.
He says yellows jackets are a lot more aggressive than bees.
“Bees are generally fuzzy, fuzzy and furry and happy like me,” Sheperdigian said. “Yellow jackets are a type of wasp. As a rule, bees generally don’t want to sting you, and they only sting to defend their nests. Yellow jackets are a little more likely to do that.”
So why are the yellow jackets so upset right now?
In short -- they’re hangry.
Their nests are crowded, and as the flowering plants start to die off, there isn’t enough food to go around.
“The nests just get larger and larger and larger until the end of the season, when they’re huge,” Sheperdigian said. “This is the end of the season. They’re everywhere.”
Yellow jackets are forced to compete for what food is available. Often that’s our sweet food or drinks.
Try to drink a cup of cider at the cider mill this time of year, and you can expect to hear a “buzz” nearby.
“If you’re going to have a can of soda pop, you need to have that covered,” Sheperdigian said. “A yellow jacket is going to be in there. A thousand times a day across this country, somebody drinks their soda and gets stung in the cheek by the yellow jacket.”
Wasps often hang out near open trash cans looking for food, so avoiding those can reduce your risk of being stung.
Sheperdigian says a gentle hand gesture swishing back and forth can send a non-threatening message to yellow jackets.
“You don’t want to hit them, because they hate that, but just back and forth, and the motion that they see puts them off, and they’ll fly away, at least for a little while,” Sheperdigian said.
In spite of your best efforts, you may still end up getting stung. Local doctors are reporting more patients coming in with wasp stings this week.
“If you’re not allergic, washing off the area with soap and water and applying ice is generally all the treatment you’ll need,” Local 4 Dr. Frank McGeorge said. “Ibuprofen can help with pain or swelling. If you’re stung multiple times or the pain persists for more than a day or two, it’s a good idea to call your doctor.”
And give those hangry yellow jackets some extra space!