If the old tale about bees building their nests in the ground as being an indication of the severity of the coming winter, this year is going to be terrible.
I’ve done a lot of hiking in the mountains and never before this year have I seen the sheer amount of yellow jackets nests in the ground. Any year previously the nests were a hazard but rarely encountered. This year it is best not to go in the mountains without keeping a weary eye open for the little yellow devils.
I can pretty much guarantee one thing, the bears are loving all of the nests they have to forage. In some cases I’m happy for the bears because when they find a nest, they uncover it. Where normally the entrance to the nest can be an unseen hole in the ground, bears make the nests much easier to spot.
I guess as far as winter is concerned, we will just wait and see. If you go in the mountains here in Appalachia, be careful of the bees. 
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I was cutting some firewood last year, and got into a yellow jacket nest that was underground. I got stung 12 times before I finally got my clothes off.
You don’t know what freedom is until your running around the woods in nothing but your tighty whitey’s.
lol – sorry Bucky that’s not funny but at the same time…
I have never been stung multiple times by the yellow jackets but I have had my share of warning stings. I was out ginsenging with my now ex-wife quite a few years ago and she did much the same thing you did. One minute shes casually walking down the mountain and the next shes running like crazy losing clothes as she goes. They got her nine times.
Yellow jackets can be ferocious. They are different from a lot of bees in that their stingers are not barbed. They can just keep stinging over and over again.
I’ve seen a lot of experts saying we’re going to have a pretty rough winter. I guess I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’ve never been stung by a yellowjacket. I’m kind of glad about that. Sounds painful.
They are not too bad individually. You’ve had a bad day though when they gang up on ya.
According to the Farmers Almanac it’s supposed to be a much more colder and snowy winter this year compared to last winter.