Ted wonders about the ubiquitous yellowjacket...
 I even put my extracted supers into the apiary for
>the bees to clean out, and not even these has attracted a yellow jacket, to my
>knowledge.
>
>What is going on?  Is this unique to my area (southeastern Michigan)?  Not
>that I mind it, to be sure, but it really has gotten my curiosity up.  I
>wonder if the varroa mite has invaded the yellow jackets.  This is kind of
>far-fetched, but what could have happened to cause such a radical population
>crash, the likes of which I have never seen before?  Maybe it was the harsh
>winter we had last year (but we have had such winters before).
>
>Any other yellow jacket experiences out there?
 
boulder...
I don't know if what I'm seeing is the german yellowjacket but I'm sure
seeing a LOT of a small black and yellow striped hornet(the picture
suggested as a reference earlier today looks more black and white while mine
just look like smaller, softer versions of our old standby, chitin-covered
fat cheeky wasp which tends to nest high hereabouts[Vespula
arenaria]---usually under eaves or suspended from high thicket vines).
 
 There is ONE black and white wasp I've seen a lot more of this year than
ever before. <Vespula maculata>Looks like Darth Vader bee and has accounted
for the early demise of quite a number of my charges. I understand
V.maculata does nest in the ground but I've been unable to find where
they're coming from.
 
I'm on the Pacific Northwest coast and anxious to let you know that OUR
yellowjacket population still seems to be very viable. I've also seen more
bumbles this year(large and small)than in any previous year.
 
Nature abhors a vacuum and I assume the increase in other pollinators is an
indication that the feral honeybee population has collapsed.
 
...Stuart Grant
Pointr Roberts, WA
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"First things first, but not
          necessarily in that order"  - Dr. Who
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