While it starts as a small, honeycomb-looking object, as the colony grows, the nest expands to an oval shape resembling a football, stalactite, or inverted teardrop. This means that just identifying the structure can help you narrow down your insect neighbors but does not determine exactly what type of insect they are. Paper wasps also use a paper-like building material but their nests have no paper envelope that covers and protects the nest. [3] X Research source
Often you won’t see their nest until autumn when the leaves fall off and reveal the nest hidden within. By this time most of the hornets will be dead or dying, leaving only the queen to hibernate and live through the winter. In contrast, yellow jacket nests can often be found either close to the ground, underground, or inside any loose structure they can find, such as between the inner and outer walls of a house or even inside an old mattress. Some wasps that build nests high above the ground are incorrectly called hornets. The North American bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula Maculata) is actually a species of wasp, as is the Australian hornet (Abispa ephippium), which is a subspecies of the potter wasp.
Whether the nest is small or large, the way to handle the nest is to call in professionals. These people will need to know how big the nest is so the more information you can give them the better equipped they will be to handle it.
Some species, however, such as the yellow hornet and the European hornet, are colored differently so it’s important to also look at the insect’s “waist. ”
Hornets, like wasps, have six legs and two pairs of wings. [7] X Research source
While this helps differentiate between a hornet or wasp and a bee, if you’re this close you may want to walk quietly away.
