Look Up, Down, All Around!

You have to keep your wits about you all the time when you are out in the woods, and not just so you don't become lost or disoriented.  Stinging insect colonies are at their peak numbers now right before we have frost, and they are usually in a bad mood as the nectar flows disappear. I saw a couple of these last week on my walks.

Hornets usually build high enough that they are easy to see.  Sometimes they build close to the ground, and I always watch for that.  They are ill-humored, as are yellow jackets, who build in the ground.  Honeybees can knock me out of commission for a couple days, and even though they are generally mild-mannered, I approach them cautiously.