How to Get Rid of Bald-Faced Hornets

Hornets with bald faces are not really hornets. They are a type of black and white yellow jacket wasp and are in the wasp family. The name of the species comes from the black and white spots on the front of its head and the tip of its belly. Its head is mostly white, and its eyes are black. They are between 1/2 and 5/8 of an inch long, with the queen being the longest at 3/4 of an inch.

Bald-faced hornets live in groups called colonies. The bald-faced hornet is a dangerous or beneficial insect that can have up to 400 workers by the end of summer. However, only the queen lives the winter.

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In the spring, the queen finds a good spot and builds a small nest there to raise her sterile female babies. The young ones make the nest bigger, gather food, and care for the eggs, larvae, and pupae until they grow up. After that, the queen’s only job is to lay eggs.

The boys and new queens are born in the fall. When the males leave the nest to mate, the queens that have just been fertilized look for places to hide until spring. The first queen, the men, and the workers all die because it’s cold outside. Since the nest can’t be used again, young queens will do it all over again in the spring while they sleep.

Types Of Bald-Faced Hornets

One type of yellow jacket that is easy to spot is the bald-faced hornet. The bald-faced hornet’s face, thorax, and the tip of its abdomen are all black and white or ivory colored, which is different from most other yellow jacket types. Its dark brown wings are see-through.

Where Do Bald-Faced Hornets Live?

Bald-faced hornets can be found all over North America, but they are most common in the southeast of the United States. Their homes are big, gray nests in the shape of balls that can grow up to three feet tall. The nest is made of wood fibers mixed with spit, and it looks like paper.

The inner nest is made up of paper cells that are arranged in a way that looks like a honeycomb. The nest is made up of three to four levels of combs, and the outside is made up of layers of paper that look like skin. The wasps can get in and out of the nest through a single hole in the bottom.

The nests are at least three feet above the ground, and most of the time they are above that. They will be built by the queen in bushes, trees, under the eaves of a building, or anywhere else that is safe.

Usually, rotting wood is used to make the nests, but entomologists have found nests made with the bodies of ground-nesting yellow jackets that bald-faced hornets have killed.

Signs You Have Bald-Faced Hornets

You might not know you have bald-faced hornets unless you see their nest, which is usually high up in a tree or in the woods. If you get stung by a bald-faced hornet for no reason, you’re probably about three feet from a nest. When they are not in their homes, bald-faced hornets that are out hunting are not usually mean.

Why Do You Get Bald-Faced Hornets?

There are many bugs that bald-faced hornets eat. The adults eat flower nectar, which makes them important pollinators. The juveniles eat bugs and other arthropods. You might get them if you live in a place where they can easily build a nest. But they don’t look for food that people eat, so it’s not likely that you did anything to attract them.

Health Risks Of Bald-Faced Hornets

If their nests are not in places with a lot of foot traffic, bald-faced hornets don’t pose much of a threat to people. But bald-faced hornets will strongly defend their nests, so places near doors and walkways where they are likely to be stung are very dangerous.

The bald-faced hornet’s bite can be very painful. Their stingers are smooth, so they can do it more than once. For some people, bald-faced hornet venom can cause an allergy reaction that is so bad it could kill them.

The most dangerous thing about a bald-faced hornet is its sting, which could cause an allergic response or an infection. Stings can be painful and scary, but most of the time they only hurt a little.