JoAnne Skelly: Yellow jacket wasps out in force

I may be imagining it, but it seems like a particularly bad yellow jacket year, even though they seemed to arrive later. One area of our yard hums with thousands of them. These aggressive nest defenders aren’t frightened by humans. In fact, swatting one away merely pisses it off. Anyone ever stung by a yellow jacket knows a sting hurts, burns, itches and seems to last a long time. Even worse, one wasp can sting repeatedly. It’s quite an unwelcome and painful surprise to drink from a soda can with a yellow jacket in it. Just a few ruin a good picnic or barbecue in a hurry. For people who are allergic, a sting can be life-threatening.