One type of yellow jacket is called a ground bee. They will often hang these nests from trees or shrubs, but occasionally they too will find an opening into your attic and build their nest indoors. This nest tends to be football-shaped and smooth on the outside. Home: This family will build their own nest out of grey “paper” they make themselves out of chewed bits of wood. Yellowjackets are predominantly yellow with smaller black stripes and they are glossy, rather than fuzzy. Weapons: Wasps are rumored to be the cause of the most painful stings around. There are many wasps that we consider beneficial insects. Theirs is shaped more like an upside-down flower, with all the cells open on the larger end and attached to the eaves of your house, under the grill, or any other troublesome spot by one small stalk.įood: Most tend to eat pest insects, helping us out a lot more than we know. Home: Wasps also make their own building materials, producing a grey paper abode. They have a pointed end to their abdomen and a very skinny “waist.” Wasps come in many colors, but they are glossy and their shape is very different. The females do have the ability to sting and can become very aggressive if their nest is threatened. This is the bee that you will also find tunneled underneath a concrete slab.įood: Pollen and nectar are the diets of the bumblebee, though they do not collect anything like what the honey bee does. Home: The bumblebee is not a great builder and you will often find a somewhat thrown-together nesting area in a pile of fluffy debris or trash. Bumble Beeīumblebees are more round than the honey bee and their coloring is yellow rather than caramel. There aren’t a lot of documented cases of this happening. Weapons: The female is able to sting, but not likely to unless handled or provoked. Their nests are shallowly dug into the wood and this is where they lay their eggs.įood: While they chew the wood where they make their home, they don’t actually eat it. Home: This is the bee that hovers around your deck and leaves pencil-sized holes here and there. This bee is similar in size and girth to the bumblebee, but its abdomen is bald and glossy black. Honey bees only sting when they feel threatened or provoked and are the only species to die after stinging. The stinger and much of her digestive tract will remain behind, pumping venom into her victim. Once it enters the skin, that barb spells doom for the bee. They have a barb on their stinger just like a fishing hook. Weapons: The female honey bee can only sting mammals once. They do not dig, and therefore won’t be found in the ground.įood: Honey bees collect pollen and nectar from the flowers of plants. When wild, they may be found inside a hollow tree, or in your attic. Their comb is a waxy substance they manufacture in their body using nectar as a base ingredient. Home: Honey bees are either domesticated and live in hives built by humans, or they are wild and build their combs inside any vacant cavity they find. They are fuzzy and have black and white stripes on their bodies. These bees are medium-sized and tend to be more caramel yellow rather than neon. Yellow jacket vs Honey Bee vs Wasp Honey Bee vs Yellow Jackets The truth of the matter is that all of our “bees” have a part to play in keeping us healthy some are just more likely to be jerks about it than others. Yellow jackets vs honey bees vs wasps, oh my! All are beneficial insect groups, but knowing their appearance and differences is important.Īs a beekeeper, I have to chuckle when someone refers to anything that buzzes as a “bee.” All the things that buzz and sting do not look alike, nor do they all deserve a bad reputation.
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