Bald-faced Hornets and Football Nest

Whether it’s an evening under the Friday night lights, NFL Sunday afternoons enjoyed from your backyard, or a pickup game in the park, the beginning of football season is one of the surest heralds of fall’s arrival. We love all things football, but there’s one kind of football you should actively avoid – the wasp kind.

What Kind of Wasp Nest Looks Like a Football?

Bald-faced hornets are known for their distinctive football-shaped nests. Also known as white-faced hornets, white hornets, or black and white hornets, bald-faced hornets can be found in most of the U.S., including Long Island.

Bald-faced hornets are considered social wasps (as opposed to solitary wasps). They live communally to build their nest, acquire food, raise their young, and defend their territory. Despite their name, they aren’t true hornets and are most closely related to yellowjacket wasps.

What Does an Active Hornet Nest Look Like?

Bald-faced hornets build large, football-shaped nests that are grayish in color. A nest often becomes visible in autumn when leaves fall from trees, exposing it to the naked eye. Bald-faced hornets chew up wood, which mixes with the starches in their saliva to create a paper-like substance used to build the nest. An active nest will show the presence of hornets – especially during daylight hours – when they hunt for food.

Where Do Bald-Faced Hornets Make Their Nests?

Bald-faced hornets build their nests at least a few feet off the ground, and sometimes as high up as 50-60 feet or more in the tree canopy. Their nests can be found in trees, shrubbery, and under the eaves of buildings.

How Long Do Bald-faced Hornets Stay in Their Nest?

Except for the queen, bald-faced hornets die off in late fall. The queen will overwinter in the nest and rebuild the colony in the spring. Because of this, many nests you find in the fall and over the winter aren’t truly empty. The queen is in residence, waiting to start the colony anew.

Are Bald-Faced Hornets Aggressive?

While many insects only attack if they feel threatened, bald-faced hornets will strike when their space is invaded. They are very territorial, hate loud noises, and will come for anyone or anything that’s even a few feet away.

Not only do they swarm, pursue, and sting as a group… they can remember human faces and will target an individual they perceived as a threat in the past. Bald-faced hornet stings can be painful, although not particularly dangerous unless one is stung by multiple hornets – or if they are allergic to the hornet’s venom.

Should You Remove Bald-faced Hornet Nests?

If you find a nest in a remote location, remember that bald-faced hornets are beneficial pollinators that both consume other pests and provide food for their predators. They have a valid place on the food chain and in the ecosystem.

It may be a completely different story if you find one on your property, and it becomes a threat to you, your family, or your pets. Because bald-faced hornets are very aggressive, it’s highly recommended you leave nest removal to trained professionals. If you see a bald-faced hornet nest on your property, do not approach it, and keep children and pets away. Even if you knock down a nest and manage to avoid a swarm of angry hornets, they may still rebuild in the same location.

Twin Forks Pest Control® is Your Hornet Removal Expert

Twin Forks Pest Control® is here to safely remove bald-faced hornets and prevent their return. We are your East End Long Island pest specialist, with more than two decades of experience in locating and removing pests in your home and yard. For a free estimate, contact us online or call (631) 324-9700 in East Hampton; (631) 287-9700 in Southampton, or (631) 765-9700 in Southold.