6 replies to this topic

[Connectimyrmex]

Hello!
I decided to name every one of my Yellow Jacket (Vespula germanica) queens (They are all literally chilling out). Here are the names:
Lily (after Secret Life of Bees, is the most annoying wasp in the collection. She chewed her way out of seven ziplock bags)

Cheese (The one that has the darkest stripes)

Vespa (To cause confusion. This is my laziest queen)

Moldy Cheese (The one that I confuse with Cheese. She has a damaged antenna)

Fart (She smells bad )

Yoda (Has the longest and most undamaged antennae)

Leggy (The original queen. She had a mite on her leg, which reminded me of a character from a cartoon show I occasionally watch, hence the name)

Squeaky (She buzzes the most, and squeaks her legs around)

Bud (I had to remove this queen's wings due to fungal infection and damage. Let's just say she's getting some favoritism)

 

Since queens of this species are pretty common at this time of year, feel free to leave some name suggestions in case I catch more queens!

[Skwiggledork]

How do you keep yellow jackets?

[Connectimyrmex]

1. Hibernate them for the entire winter

2. Provide them with an outworld and a dark place to nest(like a birdhouse)

3. Feed the colony caterpillars and sugar water

[Mettcollsuss]

Hmm. They sound like they would be interesting pets if I wasn't so terrified of getting stung.

[Connectimyrmex]

They don't really sting in the founding stage unless you grab their nest. You can tame them by feeding honey. By doing so, the queen accepts you as a part of the colony.

[Mettcollsuss]

They don't really sting in the founding stage unless you grab their nest. You can tame them by feeding honey. By doing so, the queen accepts you as a part of the colony.

Wow. I didn't know that.

[Connectimyrmex]

Yep, it's kind of interesting.

I gave up on naming my Yellow Jacket queens, probably due to how many I have now (twenty-three). I'm going to release most of them this coming spring