Stinging Insects of the Pacific Northwest

Bees are fuzzy and rounded; wasps are smooth and have a clearly pinched waist. Color helps too: honeybees are golden-brown, bumble bees are fuzzy black-and-yellow, and carpenter bees look like bumble bees but have a shiny bald black abdomen. Wasps and hornets are sleek and often have bright yellow, white, or red banding. Behavior is the fastest tell — bees forage on flowers and ignore your sandwich; wasps and yellowjackets are aggressive scavengers that swarm food and drinks at picnics, especially in August and September.

Yellowjackets, by a wide margin. They drive the majority of our stinging-insect service calls — especially July through September when colonies hit peak size and become aggressive food scavengers. Ground nests in landscaping and wall-void nests in older homes are the two scenarios we see most often. Paper wasps and bald-faced hornets are the next most common, usually nesting under eaves or in trees near patios.

Nest shape and location are the giveaway. Yellowjackets typically nest underground (in old rodent burrows or landscaping voids) or inside wall voids — you’ll see a steady stream of insects coming and going from a small hole. Bald-faced hornets build large gray football-shaped aerial nests, often 2–3 feet across, hanging from tree branches or eaves. Paper wasps build small open umbrella-shaped paper combs (single layer of cells, visible from below) tucked under eaves, in mailboxes, or in shrubs. Mud daubers build distinctive mud tube nests on walls and rafters, usually no more than a few inches long.

Yellowjackets, bald-faced hornets, and European hornets are the most dangerous — they’re aggressive defenders, will sting repeatedly (unlike honeybees), and produce nests with hundreds to thousands of workers. Paper wasps are less aggressive but still pack a painful sting when their nest is threatened. Carpenter bees and mud daubers rarely sting. Bumble bees and honeybees are docile away from their nests and only sting defensively. Any stinging-insect sting can trigger anaphylaxis in allergic individuals — if you have a known venom allergy, treat every nest as serious.

No. The Asian giant hornet (sometimes called “murder hornet”) was first detected in Whatcom County, Washington in 2019. The Washington State Department of Agriculture declared the species eradicated from the state in December 2024 after three consecutive years with no confirmed sightings. Nothing similar has ever been confirmed in Oregon. If you think you’ve seen one, photograph it from a safe distance and report it to WSDA — but in practice you’ve almost certainly seen a European hornet, bald-faced hornet, or queen yellowjacket. See our Asian giant hornet identification page for visual comparison.

Stinging insect activity ramps up in May (when overwintering queens start new colonies), peaks in August and September (when colonies hit maximum size and food becomes scarce), and ends with the first hard frost in October or November. Late summer is when yellowjackets become aggressive scavengers — that’s when you’ll find them at your picnic, your soda can, and your trash bin. Most colonies die off completely each winter except the queens, which overwinter under bark, in attics, or in woodpiles.

Only if the nest is small (golf-ball-sized or smaller), early in the season, located somewhere you can reach safely from the ground, and you’re not allergic. For anything larger, anything aerial, anything inside a wall, or anything involving yellowjackets — call a pro. Yellowjackets in particular can mobilize hundreds of defenders within seconds, and getting stung repeatedly is a real risk. Store-bought wasp sprays only kill the workers you see; surviving foragers return to a destroyed nest and become extremely aggressive.

Our default for honeybee swarms and established hives is referral to a local beekeeper for relocation — honeybees are protected and ecologically critical. We do treat honeybees when relocation isn’t feasible (for example, an entrenched colony inside a structural wall). We do not exterminate bumble bee colonies in the ground unless they pose a direct safety threat to children or pets in a heavily-used area. Carpenter bees, which damage wood, are treated as a pest. For yellowjackets, hornets, paper wasps, and mud daubers, full treatment is the standard service.

Yes — the All Seasons Pest Plan covers yellowjacket, hornet, paper wasp, and mud dauber treatment, plus removal of accessible nests around the exterior of your home. Bumble bees and honeybees are referred to local beekeepers for relocation when possible (we do not exterminate protected pollinators by default). The plan also includes free re-service visits if stinging insects return between scheduled treatments.