Next year's project preview: Habitats
I'm pretty sure my blog project for next year will be called "Habitat" or "Habitats" or some title that includes that word. To understand an organism you must understand its habitat needs. Above you see a bunch of yellow jacket worker sentries, guarding their nest entrance. The nest is built in the wall void of a handmade shed. The gap between the boards is a minor oversight of construction, but it was the perfect opening for the queen wasp to start her nest.
A little harder to see, in the very center of the top third of the image, is a round wasps' nest. This is another yellow jacket nest, probably a different species. In this case the queen's instincts told her to get up high, and to attach the nest below a rain-proof overhang. This is a hay barn--the doors that lead into it never close perfectly flush, so there is always enough space for foraging workers to fly to and fro.