07/25/2026
Yellow Jacket and Hornet Alert/Tips!
Most of the "bees" of late summer are not bees at all, and beekeepers DON'T handle them.
Tip 1: honey bees do not live in the ground (Yellowjackets can)
Tip 2: honey bees do not build nests that hang in trees. (Hornets do, some of them.)
TL/DR advice: in DC call the Mayor's 311 number, and INSIST on "filing a ticket with the Department of Health." If they send you to us, that is just frustrating and useless for you!
DC government will respond to public property, but not private. You or your landlord will decide what to do.
We don't recommend pest control professionals: we don't know who is good near you.
Here's advice, though!
Yellowjackets
If you are seeing something bright yellow and black and getting stung, it's probably YJs. They are mean neighbors and (mostly) not endangered. They do hunt alot of other bugs, though. If you are not being stung, live-and-let-live is an option. There is no dishonor in eradicating them from your yard or house.
They can live Spring-Fall, but can survive mild winters, and in houses.
Hornets
If you see a nest which is kinda round and hanging in a tree, it is hornets (there's a photo below) If nests are 20' high or more, they are unlikely to bother you unless someone bothers them (kids, tree workers...) It's up to you.
Hornet nests die before the first hard frost. If you see one in the winter, it is dead. No one is coming back. You can knock it down if you want to bother.
If you are not being stung, you can also wait and see. It is rare for nests to fall down (they have many incentives to do good construction work).
Happy to answer questions, if I can!
