Vineyard Findings: Yellowjacket Nest

My husband said that he found a bee's nest while working in the Cabernet Franc. It fell off the vine as he pruned it. When I saw him, I said, you need to go back there and get it. Easy for me to say, what if "stinging things" were living in it. I always thought that this was a nest of the paper wasp. When I googled paper wasp nest, I was surprised to read that this was really the nest of a yellow jacket!

Further digging into the Internet, lead me to the information that there are two types of yellow jackets, the aerial (Dolichovespula) and the ground or cavity (Vespula) nesting yellow jackets. The yellow jackets are not bees, they are wasps.
Most yellow jackets are ground nesting wasps. Here is a diagram of what their underground nests can look like.¹ Ground-nesting yellowjackets construct paper nests that may contain thousands of larvae and adult workers. When spring arrives, the queen selects a nesting site and the process of nest construction, egg deposition, and food hunting begins. The foraging adult workers are the "baddies". These ground-nesting yellowjacket workers commonly come into contact with people who are eating outdoors and these yellowjacket workers may become extremely aggressive.

What we have is the nest of an aerial yellow jacket, the Dolichovespula. Aerial nesting yellow jacket wasps usually have somewhat more accessible nesting sites and are an important type of native pollinator and are strictly predatory, hunting only live insects and nectar to feed to their young.
In looking at pictures of aerial and ground yellowjackets as well as hornets, it was difficult to tell which was which. Best to stay clear of all and be careful.
References:
1. Marin Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District, Yellowjackets.
2. Lynn Braband, Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, Carolyn Klass and Deb Marvin, Integrated Pest Management for Stinging Insects, Cornell University and NYS IPM Program.
3. Pest Control Plus, Yellow Jackets – Facts, Nests and Control Methods.