Wasps do plenty of good, pollinating plants and eating other garden pests , but they occasionally can become a nuisance when their numbers soar in late summer—especially if they’re nesting near your living areas. One type of wasp, the yellowjacket, is particularly insistent. You may feel they're constantly buzzing around you whenever you're outdoors in your garden or on your patio this time of year.

Here's what's going on: Yellowjackets are a social wasp, which means they live in a colony with a queen. “Some colonies can reach numbers in the thousands by late summer,” says Eric Benson, PhD, entomologist and professor emeritus at Clemson University . “While they’re foraging on caterpillars and small insects in the spring, they are not rearing as many brood in the fall so their food p

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