What defines the annual life cycle characteristic of a yellowjacket colony?
Answer
The entire colony dies off each winter, only mated queens survive.
The life cycle of a yellowjacket colony is strictly annual. This means that as the colder temperatures of late fall and winter arrive, the original queen, all the workers, and the newly produced males perish. The only individuals capable of surviving the cold period are the newly mated, reproductive queens. These surviving queens find suitable overwintering locations to hibernate. When spring arrives, each surviving queen emerges alone, becoming a foundress queen responsible for initiating an entirely new colony from scratch, including building the initial nest and raising the first generation of workers herself.
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