Trash cans serve as a buffet for wasps, so be sure to keep the lids closed tightly. Avoid lingering near trash areas in ...

Yellow jackets and paper wasps are typically a familiar sight this time of year – buzzing around gardens, patios and hiking ...

Paper wasps and hornets: Larger and thinner than yellow jackets, and usually less colorful. They tend to be less aggressive ...

"They're both serious, but a yellow jacket over a wasp is a way bigger deal," he said. If you're looking to protect your home from these unfriendly insects, Bartlett said it can be done.

But the local yellow jackets smell your lemonade and would like you to share it. One wants to be your neighbor, then two. You can’t swat them away enough. They keep coming.

Incidentally, a yellow jacket nest can be disturbed by noise and vibration, so don’t mow over one. Yellow jackets, as well as wasps and hornets, are carnivorous and are very beneficial insects.

Yellow jackets also use paper nests but the structure is different than that of paper wasp. Yellow jacket nests are a single-tier structure, facing downward to the ground and are open-faced.

The high activity among wasps and yellow jackets is expected as long as overnight temperatures are above 45 degrees. The activity should decrease once overnight temperatures get into the low 40s.

Scientists are warning Alabamians to be cautious of wasp colonies which can grow as big as a Volkswagen Beetle. The state may be on track to mirror 2006 where more than 90 super nests were reported.