See What Happened When 3,000 Yellowjackets Invaded an Elderly Couple’s House

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In another crazy video from The Hornet King, we join the experts opening up a huge yellowjacket nest. There was too much insect activity in the living room of this elderly couple’s house for them to cope with! Once some panels above a doorway were removed, the full extent of the huge nest was revealed. Wearing full protective clothing, the experts vacuum up as many yellow jackets as possible. They estimated that this particular nest had anything between 2,500 and 3,000 individual yellowjackets. Quite a few of them ended up inside the vacuum!

What Exactly Are Yellowjackets?

Yellowjackets are not a single species of wasp. They belong to the Vespula and Dolichovespula wasp genera. This is part of the Hymenoptera order of insects, including bees, ants, and thousands of other species.

Yellowjacket is the common name given to insects like this in North America. In other parts of the world, this term is not used – they are called wasps. Some of the types that you are most likely to encounter are the Western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica) and the Eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons). Not all yellow jackets are yellow! Some are black and white.

How Do Yellowjackets Normally Behave?

Yellowjackets live in colonies that create nests like the one we see in this footage. The colony has a hierarchy and specific organization. At the center of the community is a single queen served by males and non-reproducing females called drones and workers. Each worker has a specific job to do. Males must be ready to mate with the queen, larger than the workers. Not all yellowjacket colonies are as large as this; some only have a few hundred insects. Some nests, however, are many feet in length.

What Do Yellowjacket Nests Normally Look Like?

Yellowjackets use hollow spaces to build a nest. This could be a decaying log, but it could just as easily be your attic, roof, or a wall void. As you can see in this clip, the nest comprises layers of paper cells set out in a honeycomb-type pattern. The nest consists of chewed-up plant and wood fibers mixed with wasp saliva. Once the yellowjackets have finished with the nest, it usually crumbles and decays. However, there is also the possibility that another queen will take it over!