Secretive Summer Residents: Bald-Faced Hornets in the Backyard

Last week, the setting sun illuminated secretive tenants hidden among the trees of my backyard. I was sitting with the sun behind me, watching the dusk clouds in the east. That’s when I suddenly noticed a large, pendulous, white football suspended in the branches of the young hemlocks growing among the garden beds.



Apparently, even though I walk around (and occasionally crawl under and through) these very trees, I never noticed my quiet new neighbors who crafted a summerhome above the dog trail to the water-bucket. I’m guessing they’ve been working there since Spring, and I suspect that the tipping point of their decision to set up shop was the hot weather, which heralded the arrival of a kiddie pool.



My new friends are the Bald-faced hornets (Dolichovespula maculata), closely related to the yellow-jacket wasps. Bald-faced hornets are impressive, and intimidating (hence why I don't have a close-up shot of an individual to share). I’ve seen them playing in the mud around the kiddie pool, and they share space with the local wild bumblebees and honeybees on the sunflowers and other blossoms.


I’ve noticed that they like the yellow ragwort (genus Senecio), the delicate Queen Anne’s lace (wild carrot, Daucus carota), and another white wild flower whose name I don’t know yet, but I encourage in the gardens (if you know its identity, please tell us in the comments).

Bald-faced hornets are amazing to watch at work: every few seconds someone flies in, and someone flies out. Sentries sit as inconspicuous bumps on the perimeter of the nest. In total, the nest is probably about 40-50 cm long, with at least one opening (visible in these photos).

According to articles I’ve read, the bald-faced hornets will ignore me if I keep my distance and do not disturb the nest - which seems to be their preference considering how long they've gone unnoticed. Now I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to watch them work.

Once the snow sets in this winter, I’m going to carefully cut down the nest so I can examine it up close. According to my research the bald-faced hornets will be finished with their mating cycle in the autumn, and they should leave the nest with plans to build a fresh home next season (so I won't have to feel bad about robbing them of their hard-earned resources in order to satisfy my curiosity).

Secrets Among the Trees: The Festival of the Trees Returns to Arboreality

The Festival of the Trees 39 will be hosted here at Arboreality on the theme of Secrets.

But first, the current Festival of the Trees:

The Festival of the Trees 38 comes to us from Chennai, India compliments of Arati at Trees , Plants and more. Highlights for me include a peek at the Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), so beloved in my former Pennsylvania home, the evergreen Christmas tree farms of North Carolina, and the Jack Fruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus), a tree whose equal I have never seen. And then, there’s the mango tree reputed to be “3500 years old [and] bears fruit of a different taste in each branch.”

Thank you, Arati, for bringing us such arboreal diversity and splendor!

Coming up next:

The Festival of the Trees 39 brings this green blog carnival back to Arboreality.

This month’s theme: Secrets

Forests, farms, gardens, urban trees, and ancient-rock-clinging-wind-whipped Bristlecone pine stands can be an escape, a place to hide, a space to rest, a home for buried treasure. This month, I invite you to reveal a small glimpse of a secret among the trees. Consider the quiet spots you go to sit, the trees which have stood in silent observation of the events of your life, the aromatic memory of the garden from a place you have visited. With word, image, sound, or otherwise inspired creation, give us a peek at what you see, or what you can imagine.

Gather your tree-materials, post online, and send me the link:

trees[at]brainripples[dot]com

Deadline for submissions is August 28, 2009.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Drop me an email.

PS - We're still seeking volunteers to host The Festival of the Trees #40 and beyond! This is a great way to broaden your audience, and of course - have fun in the trees.

To learn more, contact Dave (bontasaurus[at]yahoo[dot]com) and Pablo (editor[at]roundrockjournal[dot]com), and visit the Volunteer to Host page for details.