On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 01:36:40 GMT, "peter" wrote:

In a shrub area, I found about ten sand mounds about 1-inch diameter with a
hole in the center about 5-mm. I also notice bee-like insects with black and
yellow stripes flying into the holes. They are about 1-cm long, smaller than
an average bee. Plus, the nest looks nothing like a bee nest (on high places
buzzing with activities).

Any idea what this insect is?

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/672644
The arrows point to the mounds and in the middle of the red circle is one of
those bugs hovering in the air -- please click on "original" to see it; it's
kind of blurry.

Around here (northeast Ohio) we call them yellow Jackets. They are a
type of wasp and will sting if provoked. They generally nest in the
ground. Google yellow jacket wasps to confirm this what you have.

If you want to get rid of them you can use wasp and hornet spray (the
kind that sprays a long stream) and saturate the nest openings from
far away. Do it in the late evening or early morning when they are in
the nest an not too active. Be prepared to run. The spray will knock
down any wasps you hit directly, but may take several days to kill all
the wasps.


HTH,

Paul