i knew V. squamosa was a species known for overwintering, but have never heard of V. maculifrons doing it! this is a worker, which normally should have died by now. keep an eye out to see if you can tell if she is going back to a nest, as you would not want to unexpectadly run into a massive 2 year yellowjacket nest over the summer! ;)

This year in Southern Georgia. If so, one can predict very large numbers of spring queens of both V. maculifrons and V. squamosa on the wing next spring. Also, this will be the year or never to look for huge, biennial nests of both species.
Fir and pine needles are often visited late in the season as a source of honeydew, by workers like this one and males too.