A busy picture of American witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) and associated gall-makers.
Witch Hazel Cone Gall, created by a aphid (Hormaphis hamamelidis).
Spiny Witch Hazel Gall, created by another aphid (Hamamelistes spinosus).
Interesting that the spiny galls run larger than the plant’s actual fruit capsules.
Ant near the fruit, and that could be a winged-form aphid on the gall.
Another ant on the left and the rare-for-these-parts Widow Yellowjacket (Vespula vidua).
But wait, there’s more! This splotch seems to be is the work of the Witchhazel Leafminer moth caterpillar Cameraria hamameliella, which eats, or mines, between layers of the leaf.
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This work by Matthew Wills is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Backyard and Beyond 
I have an un-related question: We have what look like, small yellow jackets. They are unfortunately building under our cedar shakes. We see these tiny wasps(?) in our window boxes, ‘cleaning” the stems and leaves of the impatiens planted there. Matt, do you have any idea what these might be? We live in the Southern Tier of N.Y.
I don’t know off-hand. You could try submitting pictures to iNaturalist or bugguide.net, which isn’t as user-friendly.
Thanks, I’ll try that.