This time of year, wasp communities break up. The new queens leave the nest and look for somewhere quiet to hibernate. They won't look for a new nest site until the spring. Teh remaining workers tend to go silly-season, in teh remaining week or so before they start to die off. But those are small "ordinary" wasps.
Your picture isn't clear enough - if taht's about 50% larger than a normal wasp, and the colour of legs, etc, tending more towards orange than yellow, it's a hornet.
Contrary to old wives opinions, (Tsk, Dr Pete!!) hornets are generally NO problem for people. Where regular wasps are omniverious, esp late i the yaer, and will go for your jam sandwich as soon as your hamburger (and all the apples off my trees!) hornets remain pretty firmly in the carnivour camp, including munching down on regular wasps. So thet're not really competting with us for food. Hornets tend to fly from place to place about ten feet up, so mostly all you'll ever notice is a fairly low pitched "bazzzz" as they pass overhead, where wasps tend to travel at nearer five feet up so you are more likely to come nose to nose with one. Hornets tend to nest high up in trees though they *will* use similar spots to wasps at times, so you can find them in the eaves of your house, etc. Hornets will only gang up and attack if you get within the "alert" radius of their nest. Normally, this radius is *less* than the nest's height above ground!
Hornets hunt by day and by night, at night they will gather to a light source because it's where they find the juciest moths!
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Your picture isn't clear enough - if taht's about 50% larger than a normal wasp, and the colour of legs, etc, tending more towards orange than yellow, it's a hornet.
Contrary to old wives opinions, (Tsk, Dr Pete!!) hornets are generally NO problem for people. Where regular wasps are omniverious, esp late i the yaer, and will go for your jam sandwich as soon as your hamburger (and all the apples off my trees!) hornets remain pretty firmly in the carnivour camp, including munching down on regular wasps. So thet're not really competting with us for food. Hornets tend to fly from place to place about ten feet up, so mostly all you'll ever notice is a fairly low pitched "bazzzz" as they pass overhead, where wasps tend to travel at nearer five feet up so you are more likely to come nose to nose with one. Hornets tend to nest high up in trees though they *will* use similar spots to wasps at times, so you can find them in the eaves of your house, etc. Hornets will only gang up and attack if you get within the "alert" radius of their nest. Normally, this radius is *less* than the nest's height above ground!
Hornets hunt by day and by night, at night they will gather to a light source because it's where they find the juciest moths!