I HATE yellowjackets. They may have a place in the world, but not at my place.

I have a small pond in my yard, set in the ground with plants around it, surrounded by rocks. I emptied it out today to do the annual cleaning and see if any goldfish survived the winter (found none this yr, which is too bad). The pump did pretty good at emptying it, but finally got too clogged with muck so I used a container to finish emptying it, balancing on 1 hand while dipping with the other. Suddenly YOUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH GET OFF OF ME flick!

I see at least 2 sting marks and the queen drew blood when she bit me, all on the tip of my ring finger. whine. It hurts.

Poor yellowjacket queen. There she was, warming herself under an overhanging rock when suddenly buckets of water pour over her. She drags herself slowly out of the sodden area to find a Hand! Right There! Grab, sting, bite, sting, sting, flick!

Argh.