The Bald Faced Hornet is actually a variety of yellow jacket. The queen will establish a small nest and lay eggs. She then can fertilize the eggs to make more queens or not fertilize them to make male drone workers. One the first generation of eggs grow, the workers do all of the nest building, food gathering, water foraging, and defense. It is the females that have the ability to sting. Unlike Bees, these little ones have a smooth stinger and can sting multiple times, injecting venom under the skin. Mature nests can be the size of a basketball and house up to 700 hornets.
