wasps
The buzz about yellowjacket season in South Lake Tahoe
Submitted by paula on Wed, 08/28/2019 - 6:41pm
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Yellowjackets - they seem to appear whenever you sit down for your picnic lunch or other outside dining enjoyment in Lake Tahoe, especially in the months of July and August.
While the uninvited guests have some redeeming qualities they are predatory, sting pets and humans and are capable of stinging multiple times. Their aggressive behavior ruins many the outside activity. Yellowjackets are actually wasps but shouldn't be confused with other wasps, such as hornets and paper wasps. They are often mistakenly called "bees" (as in "meat bees").
What does changing climate mean for yellow jackets?
Submitted by paula on Wed, 09/20/2017 - 11:12am
Event Date:
September 21, 2017 - 5:30pm
How does the 2017 yellow jacket population compare to previous years? Will a changing climate mean more regular population increases of these stinging things?
Join Dr. Lynn Kimsey, from the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will speak at the next Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) talk in Incline Village on September 21 at 5:30 p.m.
Get an overview of yellow jacket diversity and biology and learn how to distinguish them from other wasps. Dr. Kimsey will also discuss effects and treatments of stings, and even more importantly, how to prevent or treat outbreaks.
More wasps than normal around Lake Tahoe
Submitted by paula on Mon, 09/05/2016 - 7:26pm
Lake Tahoe visitors may notice wasps hovering around and experts say they're seeing more this year, than usual.
"It seems like it's the worst year that they've had up here in quite a few," says Doug Howard, Operations Manager for Tahoe Recreation, "It's been pretty much all over the basin, you know. I have six campgrounds that I run around here and everybody is having the same problem with the bees."
"There have been some reports of some people that have gotten stung up to 50 times and ended up in the hospital," says Howard, "but those are the very rare cases."
