Biology and Life History Life History Yellowjackets are social wasps living in colonies containing workers, queens and males.
Colonies are annual with only inseminated queens overwintering.
Fertilized queens occur in protected places as hollow logs, in stumps, under bark, in leaf litter, in soil cavities and human-made structures. Queens emerge during the warm days of late February to early April, select a nest site and build a small paper nest in which eggs are laid. After eggs hatch from the 30 to 50 brood cells, the queen feeds the young larvae for about 18 to 20 days. Larvae pupate, emerging later as small, infertile females called workers. When queens first emerge from overwintering they are very actively foraging for food.