# Dead yellow jackets on porch



## bucksone (Aug 7, 2007)

For the past several weeks I've been finding dead yellow jackets on my front porch. I guess it's better than seeing live ones flying around, but if it's going to turn into a problem, I'd like to head it off before it gets too bad. In addition to the dead ones I also see a whole bunch of very small, black winged dead insects as well in the same area. It's concentrated right next to the front door. I wonder if there is a nest nearby, but I haven't seen the yellow jackets flying so finding a nest is difficult. I'll attach a couple of photos.

We have a pest control company we use, so I could call them I guess, but I almost feel a little silly calling about dead bugs.

Any advice will be appreciated.


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

AS you said, dead ones are better than live ones in your bonnet.


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Had an upstairs problem like that, many dead yellow jackets. My guess was they found a way in but could not find the return path. A couple of years later i was replacing my gable vents and the screen on one was pushed in and many wasp nests,old and new, just inside. Not the type of nest I would expect for YJ's but it was an access into my attic.

The rooms upstairs are not used so don't go there frequently and still occasionally see both wasps and YJ's fortunately all dead.

Good luck
Bud


----------



## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

The colony could have a parasite running through it, or another insect is targetting them (hornets will go after them).


----------



## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

chandler48 said:


> AS you said, dead ones are better than live ones in your bonnet.


Yep, better dead on your porch than alive in your wall!


----------



## quatsch (Feb 4, 2021)

Some neurotoxin maybe. 
If they are the "canaries in the coal mine", you all might be ingesting the same toxins.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

@bucksone nice to meet you.

Where are you? In particular, how far north are you? The further north you are, the more likely you are to be a witness to the death of a yellow jacket colony for the summer of 2021.

In "the north" like Ohio, where I'm from, colonies last a season, then, at the end of the summer, new queens are hatched, mate with male drones and fly off to hibernate the winter. The colony disintegrates, and the workers don't go home at night any more, and they just fly around till they die. That's likely what you're finding.

In "the south" colonies can live more than a year, but where the north and south begin and end for yellow jacket purposes is hard to say.

The other dead bugs appear to be casualties from the bug killer your pest control company is using, though, honestly, most of us here believe you don't need something like that.

But that's another topic.


----------

