Aggressiveness of African Honey bee vs. Yellow Jacket

[john gault]

I'm curious if anyone has had interaction with both the African bee and Yellow Jackets and could describe how they differ in aggressiveness when defending their nest.

I know a bit about the Africanized bee through reading, never been around them, but I feel as though my understanding of their aggressiveness is adequate. However, I don't feel like I have a good grip on just how aggressive the yellow jacket is; I've heard people on here (in various threads) say that they are aggressive and I'm sure they are, especially in comparison to the European Honey bee.

So, exactly how aggressive are they? Will they (in mass) follow you as persistently as the African bee?

For some reason I've never seen a yellow jacket nest. Once I saw a nest of honey bees in Pennsylvania and of course I've seen the
ubiquitous carpenter and bumble bees and various other types of bees and wasps.

BTW, I know the yellow jacket is a wasp. And I know the yellow jacket can sting multiple times vs. a single sting for a honey bee.


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[Mountain Wildman]

I have never encountered the African either, But I have encountered the indigenous yellow jackets, From my experience the yellow jacket will only sting if they or their nest is threatened and I have never seen or heard of them swarming except on tv shows or movies.
The African, However, is an extremely aggressive species and will swarm and attack if you are even close to what they deem as their territory, They will also swarm and attack as a result of loud noises. What makes them dangerous from my understanding is that they are very easily provoked and they always attack in great mass, So it's the number of stings that make them more deadly than our indigenous yellow jackets or wasps, hornets etc...

[Alaskanhkr23]

Yellow jackets,are very aggressive! Wasps,hornets and the same are agressive.they do not polinate,so they're only sorce of food is other insect's causing them to be aggressive. Nest wise? Yes they wil follow for short distance but not in a swarm,swarming usually happens when the nest is attacked or jostled. Stay away from them if you can,otherwise just walking near the nest you should be fine.

[Alaskanhkr23]

Also you wil never see a nest : They burrow in the hround or far in dead tree's,mostly ground or rock walls.

[skinewmexico]

Yellow jackets are nothing. You're comparing poodles and abused pit-bulls. A guy who worked for me found a swarm of african bees in some equipment out in the field. The bees chased him into his car, and an ever-growing swarm attacked his vehicle until he was over a mile away. Scary. In a small town near me, some workers demolishing a house knocked over a wall with a hive in it. Two of the workers had over 100 stings, and the bees killed the 3 dogs that were in the yard next door.

In all my youth messing with yellowjackets, I never had more than 3 or 4 chase me, and never for very far. Only got stung once. You ignore them, they'll ignore you. Not so with bees.

[Mountain Wildman]

Yellow jackets,are very aggressive! Wasps,hornets and the same are agressive.they do not polinate,so they're only sorce of food is other insect's causing them to be aggressive. Nest wise? Yes they wil follow for short distance but not in a swarm,swarming usually happens when the nest is attacked or jostled. Stay away from them if you can,otherwise just walking near the nest you should be fine.

I've never found yellow jackets to be very aggressive.
Just lucky I guess. There were not very many where I grew up.

[Hoop]

Came across an abandoned YJ condo in a barn where they had an extensive nest incorporated into and between some bales of hay.

Also, one time I was bent over at a water spigot and saw a YJ at ground level get snatched and carried away by a dragon-fly, like a scene from Nat Geo.

[Toolshed]

For YJ's, it really depends how late in the season it is as to the size of the nest-Later=larger.
After bring in Pest control for a quarter century, I've seen them mild and I've seen them angry. I was once attacked in the middle of a field and had 60 some odd stings on me by the time I could get into the farm pond. Blew up like the midas man at the hospital. Hotter drier summers seem to piss off the YJ's a bit more. But I agree, I don't think YJ's are anywhere near as dangerous as Africans, based on the research data we've been presented.

Also have had my fair share run-ins with bald-face hornets. A bit bigger and a much more aggressive than YJ's.

[weary]

Open
http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4DMG/Pests/whatis.htm
for an explanation of the various related creatures you have to watch out for. African bees apparently are the worst. An attack can be deadly.

But a football sized hornet or wasp nest near the trail can be painful also.