The Baldfaced hornet lives throughout North America, including southern Canada, the Rocky Mountains, the western coast of the United States, and most of the eastern US. They are most common in the southeastern United States. They are best known for their large gray football-shaped paper nest, which they build in the spring for raising their young. Like the Median wasp Dolichovespula media in Europe, Bald-faced hornets are extremely protective of their nests and will sting repeatedly if disturbed.

Every year young queens that were born and fertilized the previous year start a new colony and raise their young. The workers expand the nest by chewing up wood that mixes with a starch in their saliva, which they spread with their mandibles and legs to dry into paper. The workers also guard the nest and collect nectar and arthropods to feed the larvae. T

Unlike bees, the poison of wasps and hornets is not really intended for use against us. Wasps and hornets are mainly hunters of insects, while bees collect nectar, to make honey.  With large amounts of honey in an average honey bee nest, the main purpose of a bee sting is to defend the nest and the colony against any attack, from mice and other animals, right up to humans.  A honey bee loses the stinger mechanism (and the poison sac) with a single sting.  In fact, the poison sac will continue to pump venom even after it is ripped from the bee, pumping even more venom after the bee is gone.  Therefore, bee stings can often cause a more severe reaction because of the amount of venom.

The Baldfaced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) is sometimes called the white-faced hornet, but is actually a yellowjacket.  It's easy to spot since it's our only black and white yellowjacket.  Its nest is a gray "paper" envelope with several layers of combs inside.  A mature nest is bigger than a basketball, but pear-shaped, with the larger end at the top and an entrance hole near the bottom. A single, over wintering queen begins building the nest in the spring.  She lays eggs and tends the first batch of larvae that develop into workers.  These workers tend new larvae and expand the nest throughout the summer.  A mature colony can have several hundred workers by the end of the summer.  In fall, workers die and next year's queens find over wintering sites.

Baldfaced hornets build gray, paper carton nests with many compartments, and a papery outer covering, which may hang near ground level or very high in trees, shrubs, vines, overhangs, sheds, utility poles. They may be quite out in the open, or other times well hidden. When mature, a nest may reach a diameter of 14 inches and a length of 24 inches. A baldfaced hornet nest is not reused the following year.

Baldfaced hornets are beneficial, capturing insects (often including other yellowjackets) to feed to their larvae.  Though larger than other yellowjackets, Baldfaced hornets are generally more docile.  But they can become aggressive and will sting when their nest is disturbed or threatened. A Baldfaced nest is usually constructed high in a tree.  In these cases the nest is best left alone.  In fact, Baldfaced hornet nests are often first noticed in fall when leaves drop, exposing the nest.  By this time the hornets are dead or dying, and the nest will not be reused.