WARNING

sixthland posted a photo:

BEES/WASPS ACTIVE IN THIS AREA.

It seems late in the year for a warning like this, but autumn is when wasp colonies are at their largest. The nest has stopped raising workers and switched to producing next year’s queens.

That leaves thousands of workers with nothing to do but hunt for sugar and defend the nest. Late-flowering ivy keeps them, and the bees, well fed until the first frosts.

After that, only the new queens survive the winter, and the nest is never used again.