Bee, Wasp, or Yellow Jacket?
90I have to confess, it's a huge pet peeve of mine when people call wasps and yellow jackets "bees." I'm not even a beekeeper, I guess it just upsets me because it gives bees a bad rap... and they're having enough trouble already without people thinking they're getting into their pop cans at picnics.
If you're allergic to bee stings, you have very good reason to be afraid of bees, but for the rest of us, the benefits far outweigh the risks of these generally gentle creatures. Bees are one of the most important pollinators in the world. In fact, it would be safe to say that the human race wouldn't exist if not for bees.
Bee identification is actually relatively easy. There are both visual and behavior clues that can help you decide exactly who is buzzing in your garden.
Honeybee
The common European Honeybee is not native to the Americas, but she was imported with European settlers and quickly made herself a vital assistant for American farmers and gardeners.
She is fuzzy and compact, and her black and yellow coloring is rather dull. Strictly vegetarian, she is not one to show interest in your picnic lunch, though she may occasionally come over to investigate a brightly colored shirt. Otherwise, she spends most of her time gathering pollen from flowers.
She has only a single sting and it kills her to use it, so she will generally choose flight rather than fight, unless she feels her hive is threatened. She might also sting if caught, sat on, slapped at, or otherwise cornered.
It should be noted that Africanized honeybees, which look very similar to the European variety, are more aggressive, particularly in defense of their nest. if you live in an area where Africanized honeybees are known to live, be wary of anything that looks like a honeybee and avoid swarms. (Africanized bees swarm more often than European bees.)
Bumble bees and Carpenter bees
I think bumble bees are cute. Much larger than honeybees, they are also even furrier, and their coloring is often brighter, though this varies from species to species.
Like honeybees, they are excellent pollinators who spend their lives visiting flowers and will not show interest in human foods.
Though bumble bees are capable of stinging multiple times, they are generally even less aggressive than honeybees. The exception is if their hive is threatened.
Bumble bees are commonly confused with carpenter bees, which are a similar size and form. However, carpenter bees have a shiny black butt instead of a furry striped (usually) one. Though considered a nuisance by some for their habit of nesting in dead wood, including sometimes the walls or windowframes of houses or barns, carpenter bees are good pollinators and it is worth attempting to move them to a more suitable location, rather than killing them outright. Drone carpenter bees might appear more aggressive than the gentle females, but they are generally just curious, and don't have a stinger even if they do intend harm. The sting of the females is fairly mild, and unlikely to occur unless handled.
Yellow Jackets
You could almost say a yellow jacket looks more like a bee than a bee does. At any rate, they're smooth and shiny and their black and yellow stripes are bright flags yelling "bee! bee!" at people who don't know better.
Although yellow jackets, which are really a kind of wasp, occasionally visit flowers, they are extremely inefficient pollinators because of their smoothness, and their preferred food is actually other insects and fruit. They are considered semi-beneficial because they eat many caterpillars and other insect pests that damage crops and garden plants. However, when these natural food sources begin to decrease in late summer and fall, they become a nuisance species. They are attracted to odors that are meaty or sugary, which is why, if there's an annoying "bee" that persists in trying to steal your picnic, there's a very good chance it's actually a yellow jacket. Yellow jackets are also known to hang around bee hives attempting to steal honey.
Unlike bees, yellow jackets are aggressive and free to sting you as many times as they want without injury to themselves. Some people are allergic to yellow jacket stings, so they should be treated with considerably more caution than most honeybees.
Wasps and Hornets
There are many different varieties of wasp, with different appearances and habits. Many are carnivorous or omnivorous and are considered beneficial due to their taste for common garden pests such as caterpillars.
Wasps are generally smooth-bodied and shiny, with much less compact bodies than bees. For example, you might barely notice the legs of a bee when it is flying, but the legs of a wasp trail down behind it in flight very noticeably. Wasps also often have very narrow waists, and the term "wasp-waisted" was used in Victorian times for a certain type of silhouette that underwent several periods of popularity and resembled the segmented body of the wasp: with a tiny, heavily corseted waist accented by the broader bust and hips above and below.
Wasps look terrifying, with their long spidery legs and evil looking faces, but most are actually quite gentle. The primary exception, as with many bees, is the social wasps, if they feel their nest is threatened. If you have a caterpillar problem, a nest of hornets might be the best thing that ever happened to your garden, but whatever you do, DON'T try to move it! Those ladies are mean when angry and quite happy to sting you a hundred times each if they can.
Other Species
North America has many native solitary bees. These bees are usually less aggressive than social bees, because they do not have a hive to defend. Most are also excellent pollinators and there is growing interest in their use as alternative pollinators due to Colony Collapse Disorder and other problems afflicting domesticated and feral honeybees.
Additionally, many species of fly mimic bees in appearence and/or behavior. Most are completely harmless to humans.
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No, we have hornets also (though I think some of them are European imports) and they're not the same as yellow jackets. However, they're much more similar in their aggressiveness than many other wasps. I like the limerick!
I really hate hornets. Bees and wasps are ok ( I know we need em )
Enjoyed your hub. I can't tell the difference between honeybees and other bees. I do know hornets and wasp.
When I was a child, the large black wasps or hornets looked like deadly flying shrimp to me, with legs handing down. Very large.
Thank you for this informative hub. I like bees, especially honeybees and other beneficial pollinators. This summer I was stung by an aggressive little wasp while working in the garden. They were just doing what they do, and I was invading their space. I had a bad reaction to this species and had to get the 'bee kit' for any future stings. It has not kept me out of the garden but I am much more aware and tuned in to them.
Excellent hub! I love bees and have rescued wasps!
i have a giant wasp/bee thing in my garden today it looks like a fat dragonfly only furry and yellow and black, what is it ?? looks about 2 inches long!!
I would guess a hornet, but they aren't furry. There are several large furry bees, including bumblebees, but they are closer to 1 inch.
Great hub. Very informative. But in Missouri, we are having a problem with black and reddish brown wasp/hornet. These flying bombshells are mean. Their nest looks like a paperwasp and they like 'hanging' out in the rabbit hutches. They are hard to get rid of with sprays and we have had to knock them down and smash the nests to keep them from coming back. And there is a 'guard' on duty all the time, so needless to say someone will get stung during our clean up time. Thanks!
About 4 years ago I accidentally discovered a ground yellowjacket nest. If I hadn't been right beside the river, free of items which couldn't afford to get wet, well .. I'd have been done for, I'm sure. As it was, I had at least 4 stings but didn't feel them at the time, just later. While they were swarming around me (like horrid little striped helicopters), I felt removed, aware but not affected. Then a nearly audible voice commanded me to "JUMP" so into the water I went.
My Mom has trouble relating to my fear of them, and I'm trying to control the way I respond (I don't swat at them, but they startle me and I jerk away) ... I'm always glad for the colder months.
Thanks for your post!
Love your hub.. My 6 yr old daughter got 9 stings the other day. Thankfuly she wasn't allergic. I believe they were either bald faced hornets or blackjackets. It was a ground nest. Can either build their nest in the ground? If they do, do they build their paper nest in the ground? My husband found 5 seperate nests on our trails. Why so many this year. We live in the Pacific Northwest.
could you find out what is a big fat evil wasp with a stripeed butt?
I have blue bumble bees living in the rear of my home, can someone tell me what these beautiful bees are called I cannot find anything on them anywhere and they are bees I dentified by body just color is different, I have even seen them with the regular honey bees at the side. These light and dark blue bees live under my brick portch and are very bright colored. I would appreciate any help. Special care planting for diets ect....
I love BUMBLEBEES!!
Such a helpful hub! I'm very much in love with whatever that flower/plant is in the picture with the bumble bee?? It is stunning!
I have what appear to be orange wasps living in the roof of my porch. I have been unable to identify them. Can someone help??
Concerned in Texas
can someone tell me if there is any varieties of bee, wasps, or hornets that are purple... today i was standing next to my friend in a parking lot and a giant wasp like insect flew by me and i got a clear too at its features. Its body sections were very distinct and i could tell it was a wasp of some sort, but that size and color were nothing I have ever seen. The size of the insect was about the size of a humming bird but a big longer.
I'm okay with Bees but I haaaaate wasps!
I think the flower is lambs ear.
@ emily and others with "giant bees or wasps" it sounds like a Cicada killing wasp. At first I thought they were wasps or bees on steroids or perhaps irradiated super-power insects courtesy of the local nuclear plant. They were getting in my garage (we leave the door open too much!) at night and attacking the light, getting too close and too curious and assertive when I would go out and weed my beds which are expansive and it became a real pain because while I actually enjoy bumblebees (darn cute they are) I do NOT like a bee as big as my hand buzzing at me like it means me harm, and I am more of a "run, screaming" type. I googled until I found them. Turns out they act like they're tough, but really they're harmless to humans unless you happen to be fast enough to grab and hold a female. They kill Cicadas, obviously, which is something I now respect them for, since I do NOT Like Cicadas nibbling on the branches of my fruit and ornamental trees. Now if someone would PLEASE tell me how to get honeybees the heck away from my saltwater swimming pool (no, they're not sweat bees, they're honey bees, with a serious attitude of greater entitlement) I'd sure appreciate it.
I appreciate the info still afraid of both but I can definetley appreciate the difference
I found great information here. Now, I know their kinds.Good to learn here.
i found a wasp today coming out of a gopher hole. i have never seen one come out of the ground. can someone please tell me what kind it is. i live in northern indiana. thank you
It seems that being a "Level 2 or 3 commenter", means they leave the least useful responses.
A friend was stung by one of the above insects last week and died within the hour. I am also allergic to one of the above but did not see what it was and in fact did not know that I was allergic until about 12 hours after I was stung and ended up in er. I HATE THE FLYING INSECTS AND TEND TO STAY INSIDE MOST OF THE SUMMER! I know they are necessary for pollination but do my best to stay away from them.
I don't mind bumble bees but keep the others away from me please. ;)
my pawpaw just got about 20 stings from a yellow jacket or jackets
Saw a golden colored bee that resembled a carpenter bee in size and sound, and shape, but was totally golden, no stripes, very furry, no black at all, what is this, an albino?
how long are a bees legs? i need it for work
When I was younger I was stung by yellow jackets at around 18% of my body and almost died and now I'm terified if any wasp, hornets, yellow jackets, or bees come anywhere near me or if I even hear something that sounds like them near me.
Found about a dozen socialites building a few nests under my wooden porch roof. They are yellow with reddish wings. Cant figure if they are wasps or hornets. My guess are wasps but cant find a match. Right now at the beginning stage the nests look like little bee hives, but they certainly are not bees.
i can't tell which it is. It is a huge black bee type insect and it stings (my friend found that out the hard way) but i can't tell if it is a bee, wasp, hornet or yellow jacket. also which insect has the most painful sting?
The Indexer 3 years ago
Is a yellow jacket what we Brits would call a hornet? If so, your article reminds me of that great, unrhymned limerick:
There was a young man of St Bees
Who was stung on the arm by a wasp.
When they said "Does it hurt?"
He replied "Yes it does,
But I'm so glad it wasn't a hornet".