The bald-faced hornet, also called the bald hornet or the white-faced hornet, is technically a wasp and only a close cousin to the true hornet. It gets its name for the black and white coloring (rather than the typical black and yellow) of its body.
Still, it behaves much that same, living in colonies of several hundred and building paper nests created from chewed wood pulp mixed with saliva. Nests high in trees or rocky overhangs are common. These beautiful nests can be up to two feet long.
A bald-faced hornet nest in a tree along the Ogeechee River. Photo by Samarra Mullis
The nests include many layers of hexagonal combs inside of an outer layer protective paper. They also create air vents in the upper portion of the nest that heat to escape.
The adult hornets are omnivores, eating other insects as well as fruit, meat, spiders and plant nectar. Perhaps more fierce and frightening than butterflies or bees, they are also important pollinators.
Art by Caroline Rose
This species lives throughout most of America and Canada but are most commonly found in the American southeast. They are a stinging insects, though rarely do so unless disturbed. When found in urban or suburban areas it is recommended the nests be moved by professionals.
PFAs are a category of manmade carcinogenic chemicals. Invented and brought into widespread use during World War II, they are very effective in extinguishing fires, especially ones accelerated by jet fuel or petroleum products. The PFAs are mixed with water to create a spray foam that suffocates the fire quickly and doesn’t allow the fire to reignite. They are also used to coat fabrics for firefighters.
PFAs are considered ‘forever chemicals’ because they do not break down in the environment and they accumulate in wildlife, plants and humans.
I don’t work in an airport and I’m not a firefighter or in the military, so I’m fine.
Not really. PFAs are used in many household items like nonstick cookware, microwave popcorn bags, pizza boxes, windshield fluid and carpets.
They are also in the water — groundwater and drinking water. And over time, they accumulate in fish and livestock, meaning they are in the food chain. All of these sources cause them to accumulate in the human body.
Additionally, steps should be taken to make firefighting and military equipment safe for those using it.
Firefighter puts out car fire with PFAs-based foam
What does that mean?
Scientists are still investigating, testing and studying results, but here are some results:
It is estimated that 98% of Americans have some level of PFAs in their blood.
If a person were able to avoid exposure to any and all PFAs, it would take 3.5 years for half of the PFAs to be processed out of their system.
Studies show links to thyroid and liver problems, obesity, high cholesterol, low birth weight, and certain cancers.
Approximately 16 million Americans are drinking water that has been contaminated with PFAs. This includes private wells and public water systems.
Attention needs to be paid to threatened areas, particularly those near military installations or manufacturing plants. For example, the U.S. Air Force is testing water on 200 bases around the world, but as of last year had only completed a third of them.
All three U.S. Air Force bases in Georgia showed significant levels of PFAs contamination in the groundwater. Unfortunately, the military did not test water offsite, even if it was nearby. Local residents that use private wells are especially vulnerable to contamination.
The EPA drinking water advisory level is 70 parts per trillion PFAs. Groundwater samples from Moody Air Force Base tested 5,000 times that; Dobbins Air Reserve tested at 1,000 times; and Robins Air Force Base tested at more than 5,000 times the screening level.
Fire department sprays water on fire suppression foam. Photo by Greg L. Davis U.S. Air Force via dover.af.mi
So how do we get rid of it?
Some municipalities have already started to take steps.
In Rome, Georgia, the city commission adopted a resolution stating that “certain manufacturers and distributors” were a public nuisance, paving the way for possible litigation if contamination occurs.
The chemical company 3M is facing multiple federal lawsuits in Charleston, South Carolina, for production of the PFAs compounds. 3M is also in the courtroom over allegations it polluted waterways near its factories in Minnesota.
The State of Michigan tests fish and issues an annual advisory in the form of a Eat Safe Fish Guide.
Local governments and citizens must require action regarding PFAs.
The Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers are considered ‘blackwater’ rivers.
A blackwater river is typically a slow-moving waterway flowing through forests, swamps, or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins seep into the ground water or drain into lakes and streams, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black tea. Because of this blackwater rivers typically have a lower (more acidic) pH level.
Tannins are found commonly in the bark of trees, wood, leaves, buds, stems, fruits, seeds, and roots, and help to protect the individual plant species. For example, tannins stored in the bark of trees protect the tree from being infected by bacteria or fungi. Similar properties are extended to the waterways as it seeps into the river.
Additionally, less light penetration due to the darker water colors, means these waterways generally have less vegetation in the water. However, algae blooms can happen when there is a drought, which lowers the water level and allows sunlight to reach the bottom of the riverbed.
Swimming in a blackwater river
Tannins are also found in wine, tea, and berries, and are safe for human consumption. Historians note that early colonists and mariners would fill casks from blackwater rivers. In the days before treated water sources, it was a safer, healthier alternative. They didn’t understand that this water carried fewer microbes because of its chemical makeup, but they knew it worked.
Blackwater streams also have high levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) due to the breakdown of the same plant material that cause the tannins. Because of this, blackwater rivers usually have high levels of (harmless) bacteria that feed on the DOC, causing a low oxygen levels.
The term tannin is from the Latin tannum and refers to the use of oak and other bark in tanning hides into leather. Scientifically, it refers to any large polyphenolic compound that can form strong complexes with various macromolecules. These compounds are most commonly found in organic, plant-based items.
Spanish moss isn’t really a moss at all; it’s an epiphyte or air plant. Botanically, it is closely related to the pineapple and absorbs nutrients and water through the air and rainfall. It does occasionally flower but it is rarely seen. The silver-gray plant grows in long, hair-like clumps, hanging from trees in subtropical climates.
According to botanical guides, it has “threadlike stems up to 6 to 7.5 metres (about 20 to 25 feet) long. The leaves, also threadlike, are about 2.5 to 7.5 centimetres (1 to 3 inches) long.”
Spanish Moss growing on live oak tree, South Carolina
It is commonly found living on the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) and bald-cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the lowlands, swamps, and marshes of the southeastern United States and can be found as far west as Texas and southern Arkansas. It does not harm or kill the trees it lives on.
William Bartram described it, and its uses, in his 1770s travels to the area:
When fresh, cattle and deer will eat it in the winter season. It seems particularly adapted to the purpose of stuffing mattrasses, chairs, saddles, collars, &c. and for these purposes, nothing yet known equals it. The Spaniards in South America, and the West-Indies, work it into cables that are said to be very strong and durable; but, in order to render it useful, it ought to be thrown into shallow ponds of water, and exposed to the sun, where it soon rots, and the outside furry substance is dissolved. It is then taken out of the water, and spread to dry; when, after a little beating and shaking, it is sufficiently clean, nothing remaining but the interior, hard, black, elastic filament, entangled together, and greatly resembling horse-hair.
In the modern era, Spanish moss has been used for building insulation, mulch, packing material, mattress stuffing, and fiber. It was even used in the padding of car seats by Henry Ford who had a home in Richmond Hill and a dealership in Savannah.
Popular Science, June 1937, page 32
The etymology for “Spanish moss” is not known although it is often supposed it is related to a term used by French settlers in the southeastern U.S. in the 1700s. They called it barbe Espagnol, or Spanish beard, referring to the long beards popular among Spanish explorers of the era. It has become an iconic image of the South, including in Southern gothic literature and in folklore.
Image from NYPL Digital Collections. Live Oak Avenue, Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Ga. Stereograph. 1880. The description on the reverse reads, in part: “The majority if these trees are of the Live Oak species, with but few others. The latter have long since passed away, but the sturdy oaks, with their hoary beard of moss, still defy the gales of the Atlantic and wintry blasts; and their rustling leaves whisper a ceaseless lullaby to the quiet and peaceful sleepers at their feet.”
Share your photos with Ogeechee Riverkeeper. Send in your sprout pictures to info@ogeecheeriverkeeper.org or tag us on social media.
Thank you to Peyton and Whitley for demonstrating!
Materials needed: – Empty egg cartons (preferably paper/cardboard cartons) – Spray water bottle – Seed packets: tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, watermelons, okra, sweet peppers, and/or marigold seeds & potting soil (can be ordered online or any other ag/garden supply store) -OR- old potato(es), if you are not able to get seeds and potting soil
For seed packets:
Poke small holes in the bottom of each “egg” for water to drain out.
Fill each “egg” with soil, push a finger in the middle of the dirt up to the first or second knuckle (kids with small fingers)
Drop in seeds (check package for amount of seeds per “egg”).
Use a water spray bottle and spritz each “egg”.
Check seed sunlight/shade preferences. Since egg cartons are light, you can move them around the yard for sun/shade needs!
Once the seeds sprout and start to outgrow the cartons, you can replant them in a garden bed, large pot, etc. You can plant them directly into the ground in their paper/cardboard “egg” because they will decompose; if you used styrofoam cartons, you will need to transplant them.
Make sure to separate each egg either by tearing or cutting.
Let a few potatoes grow sprouts, also known as “eyes”. These cannot be eaten so instead of throwing them away, you can plant them and they need very little care.
Cut the potato in half or leave whole in most soil types, leaving the eyes exposed. They will sprout in sun or shade.
Water right after you plant them and then let them do the rest of the work.
Water 1-2 times per week if it has not rained.
After potatoes stems have finished flowering, you can go on a scavenger hunt for the fresh, new potatoes in the soil!
Remember to share your photos with Ogeechee Riverkeeper. Send in your gardening pictures to info@ogeecheeriverkeeper.org or tag us on social media with #ORKoutside.
Activity is open to all ages and meets the needs or can be combined with other activities for the following Georgia Standards of Excellence in science, earth systems and meteorology, depending on how in depth your activity is.
S1L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the basic needs of plants and animals.
S2L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the life cycles of different living organisms.
SBO4.C. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to analyze the impact of plant diseases and pests on plant defense systems and agriculture.
H.E1.5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision making skills to enhance health.
Need to know what will grow best in our watershed? Visit the