That is a wasp or hornet. (hornets look similar but are generally larger in size) We had a problem with them last year and the year before. They built a nest under the eave of our garage and the eave of our 2nd floor the first year and then in a tree close by the 2nd. I had to hire an exterminating company to get rid of them. They are very protective of the queen in the nest so if you find one be careful. This is what a nest typically looks like

They do not re-use a nest so they will be gone when the weather gets cold and not back in that spot in the spring.

Of course, Fori, I understand what you are saying in the last paragraph. But someone has already been stung several times, there is a very young child who goes outside, and they have come inside a bedroom.

The Mainer says the nests look like "honeycomb."

I think it's a wasp, for sure not a hornet. The bald-faced hornet that makes the conical paper nest in the photo is larger, black, with a white spot on its head. VERY territorial and will chase you.

We have both honeycomb nests & the paper looking ones around here. Wait until after dark and spray w/ wasp & hornet spray. Some of those sprays have a long reach, handy if the nest is up high.

We had a nest of ground bees this summer; for them, I bought a can of foaming wasp spray. Aim at the entrance of the ground bee nest & the spray foams up & encapsulates any bees that try to escape. I foamed it after dark & not a single bee managed to make it out or was even seen.

The foaming spray will also work if a wasp or hornet nest is w/ in easy reach.

We have lots of wasps here. We use these traps, hung AWAY from the house. In a tree or on a pole. https://www.homedepot.com/p/RESCUE-Reusable-Yellow-Jacket-Trap-YJTR-SF4/100090964?MERCH=REC--pipsem--202190964--100090964--N

First your Mainer will need to have the nest removed. I would hire a pro for this in case there is swarming. Next spring, early spring, hang the above trap/s outside, front and back yards. If you catch the queen, no more trouble for the season. If not, these traps are effective for keeping the wasp count down.

I agree that wasps are beneficial for the garden and I don't mind a few. But when you have nests on site, it can be a dangerous problem. We even had nests inside our walls. Good gravy. Lots of bites here, until we got the traps.

"Seek" thinks it's an "Asian Paper Wasp".

I have paper wasps working on a nest outside my bedroom window right now. They're not in an area where my walking would threaten them. As long as they don't bother me, I won't bother them. But let one of them sting me one time, I'll give it a spray and knock it down.

The Maine-located wasp may be a paper wasp. It is unlikely to be the Asian Paper Wasp Polistes chinensis, as the distribution of that species is eastern Asia and Aus/NZ.

https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/42745#toDistributionMaps

^ scroll way down for map

https://bugguide.net/node/view/572/tree

^ compare to one of these USA Polistes for possible ID.

It took nearly a dozen soakings with wasp spray to eliminate a small wasp honeycomb in a corner over our back door. You can shoot the spray from 8 -10 feet away. We've had several nests in late summer this year.

There are two "types" of wasp spray for want of a better word. One is simply a spray. The other one that is better for nests sends out a stream that on contact produces a foam which can cover the nest. If you know where the nest is I suggest using the second. Some wasps will be missed so you may have to spray again.

However this year I found a nest on a branch where the lawn person would hit it. I decided to spray and went out in late afternoon. I noticed what looked like a dark ball surrounding the nest and thought it odd. When I sprayed the wasps on the nest started crawling along the branch away from the nest. I watched one shake the foam and it appeared to wipe itself on a stem before flying away. Next day they were back. I ended up spraying for several days until they were gone. I do not know what kind of wasp they were but they made a double layered nest. They were smaller black with a white stripe on their abdomen and across their head.

I just knock the paper wasp nests down with a long stick or similar if I can reach them. They'll abandon it soon enough.

My kids used to shoot at them with BB guns

The brown paperwasps in this area no longer accept having their nests knocked down with out a fight. I am glad to see that it is not the same in all areas. Not as aggressive as yellow jackets but will chase you about ten feet or until you are out of their territory.

You guys are all brave! I would never ever have the guts to spray that ugly nest and hope for the best. Ours was right where I pulled into our garage so I was glad it was gone. The wasps from the one in the tree kept getting into our house some how...turned the light on to use the restroom one night, lifted the lid and there was one in the toilet staring at me.

I was going to say that looks like it might be a mud dauber or paper wasp.

If you wait until dusk/night to spray or knock down a wasp nest, they tend not to react the same as during the day. They sleep at night. I've used a hose sprayer to shoot a strong stream of water to knock down paper wasp nests, and there's a non-poisonous wasp killer that shoots a long stream too, so you can keep your distance. I've used that a number of times in the past - always at night, but haven't seen it in the stores around here in awhile. I think it was mint oil plus a surfactant.

Wasps are great predators and can help get rid of caterpillars, but you sure don't want them around areas where people might accidentally disturb their nests.

Wasps are a good reason not to mow a lawn in bare feet. Not a good idea in general, but I was a kid. It was a painful way to discover that wasps make nests in the ground as well as above ground.

Maybe what we call certain insects depends on where we live, but I never saw what we call "wasps" or "mud-daubers" with yellow on them. This one sounds like what resided in the walls of our barn at one time. Huge, flat, honey-combed thing. The inhabitants were aggressive.

I don't know if they were yellowjackets, but they might have been. Mostly our yellowjackets nest in the ground. Not the happiest surprise when you encounter them accidentally.

Carol, really?

Surely there are different varieties, maybe some are more aggressive than others too. I’ve seen them inbetween walls before and yes, they were aggressive as well. I’ve seen mud nests in dirt as well. I’ve never heard of them nesting in the ground where one would walk though, good to know since I tend to go in the yard barefoot.