"Two-legged creatures we are supposed to love as we love ourselves. The four-legged, also, can come to seem pretty important. But six legs are too many from the human standpoint." ~Joseph W. Krutch

It started with just a few in the kitchen one day.  Yellow jackets, that is.  I pulled out the fly swatter and killed them, thinking that they probably entered through an open window or door.  But then we saw more of them, and a week later I killed 17 in one day.  That was not ok!  Upon further investigation, I found their site of entry - the fireplace.  When I realized this, I went outside and looked up - hundreds of the little creatures could be seen swarming around the top of the chimney. 

Jeff got home from work, and I greeted him with the fly swatter in hand along with the simple statement, "We have a problem."  After sealing off their site of entry and consulting a professional exterminator, Jeff determined that we could rid ourselves of the little boogers by lighting a hot, smoky fire, followed by a bug fogger.  So last weekend - when outside temperatures soared into the 80's - we had a constant fire burning in our fireplace.  I'm sure our neighbors wondered about us when they saw the smoke rising from our chimney!  After a weekend of fire, Jeff decided that should be enough - the yellow jackets and their nest should be long gone, so there was no need to set off a fogger.

Then Monday came, and after I killed two more yellow jackets in the house, I built another fire (yes, on another 80-degree day).  We've had no fires and no signs of yellow jackets since Monday, so maybe the problem has been solved.

One interesting thing I noticed about the yellow jackets that invaded our home was that they were not very aggressive.  Quite the opposite - they seemed to just stay in one spot waiting for me to kill them.  Some of them were even on the floor barely moving as if they were hoping someone with a fly swatter would come along and finish them off.  Although I was happy to oblige, I was curious to find out what was wrong with them, so I went to my ever-trusty friend Google to find out.  And I learned a lot!

Did you know that yellow jackets are like bees in their social behavior?  Social insects live in colonies, and their sole focus is doing everything for the good of their family.  Each colony is founded by a lone queen that spent her previous winter in hibernation.  Once she emerges, she feeds on insects until she is ready to lay eggs, and then she builds a 25 - 40 cell nest, laying eggs there, and waiting for her first batch of daughter workers.  After these eggs hatch and the new brood matures, the workers take over the care of the nest and the queen.  The queen then remains inside the nest laying more eggs.  Colonies can quickly expand to 4,000 to 5,000.  (I guess I should be glad I only killed about two dozen in my house!)

Those who study yellow jackets have determined that they are not "pre-programmed," but they actually learn from experience, especially when it comes to finding food.  The workers of the colony literally work themselves to death, and can easily switch roles in the nest if the need is there -- if, for example, someone fails to show up for their assigned task, the worker next to them assumes they are dead and will take over the missing comrade's job.

Unlike bees, yellow jackets can sting more than once.  In fact, they are known to follow the object of their wrath if you try to run from them.  And they are extremely defensive when their nests are disturbed.  They also have a built-in alarm and if attacked or killed will release a smell that alerts their little buddies to come to their aid. 

In the fall, all of the yellow jackets in a colony die except for new queens, who will go into hibernation and start the process all over again.  This is probably why the ones that made it inside our home seemed sick - they were likely at the end of their life cycle.  And I was happy to put them out of their misery a little earlier than nature by itself would allow!

In thinking about all I learned, the truth is that these pesky, painful little nuisances can teach us a lot.  What if we were all as intent as yellow jackets are in doing everything we do for the good of our families - both the family that shares our DNA, as well as the one that we belong to in Christ?  And wouldn't it be great to know if one of us is attacked, that all of our family members will immediately come to our aid?  Not to mention having a work ethic that doesn't stop, and being willing to roll up our sleeves and step in to help when a fellow worker can't complete their task. 

Yes, as the title above states, six-legged creatures are too much for me to love.  But hopefully, their presence in my home will remind me to love the two-legged creatures in my world a little more than I did before.