'Super nests' housing 15,000 wasps popping up in the South

ALABAMA – Giant "super nests" housing up to 15,000 wasps are appearing throughout Alabama, and the sightings may only be beginning.

The massive wasp fortresses are nests that survive into a second year. Normally, only one or two are found each year, but there have been four already discovered in 2019.

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The fear is that the rising numbers could match those from 2006 when 90 "super nests" were  found by entemologist Charles Ray.

Ray and other officials have already issued a warning to residents to expect an increased number of nests this year, the New York Times reports.

According to the Times, yellow jacket stings account for almost all stinging deaths in the U.S. 

Yellow jackets attack in large numbers and sting repeatedly, unlike honey bees which only sting once.