Bees and Wasps

Bumblebees:

Bumblebees are the larger and plumper aspect of the bee family. They are beneficial to our environment with the capacity to pollinate many crops and other flora too. Bumblebees are thought of as social insects, due to living in a hive with other bees.

Color – Yellow & Black

Length – 1" with a fluffy round/oval body shape

Diet – Nectar and pollen from a variety of plants and flowers. They habitually carry food from flowers and plants to the nest as food for the colony.

Habitat – They can build nests above/on the ground, beneath decks and patios, and in your attic if they can gain access. If their nest is disturbed, they will ferociously defend it.

Impact – Given that they help to pollinate our crops and flowers, their impact is a good one. If the nest is disturbed, they will pursue the disturber for long distances. They can repeatedly sting due to their sting being smooth and not barbed like that of the honey bee.

Apis (Honeybee):

The Apis, or honey bee as it is more commonly known, is the greatest honey producer. The honey they create becomes the food source to help sustain the colony during the winter months. Although their sting is quite painful, they can only do it once because their stinger is barb-shaped and usually becomes lodged beneath the surface where they have stung.

Color – Yellow head and thorax, and a yellow abdomen with thin stripes around the body in a brownish-black.

Length – 1/2"

Diet – Their diet consists of nectar, pollen, and water. Their diet is the thing which enables them to produce and store honey in honeycombs inside their nest. During the winter, they can use the honey as a basis for food. Food sources and colony size can enable some colonies to survive for many years.

Habitat – Their nests can sometimes be found in holes and crevices of trees, but if they can find a way in, they have been known to make nests in attics and chimneys.

Impact – Like the bumblebee, the honeybees are great for the environment as they pollinate crops and produce honey. They can, however, become a pest if they have built a nest in your home. Even though the honeybee is only able to sting once, it is painful, especially if the sting is not taken out

Carpenter Bee:

The honeybee is considered ‘social,' whereas carpenter bees, ‘antisocial.' You may not always see a large group of bees living in one hive/nest unlike that of the honeybee. You can often see a single carpenter bee and its young in one nest. Their name is taken from their skill in being able to penetrate wood where they make channels for nesting.

Color - Black head, yellow thorax and black abdomen and wings (they can sometimes be entirely black with blue wings.

Length - Up to 1" with an egg-shaped body.

Diet - They gather pollen and nectar and bring it back to their nest to feed their young.

Habitat - Carpenter bees are known to drill into soft wood and lay their eggs. Some of the channels they make can reach lengths of up to ten feet. Wood dust from the boring is pushed out of the nest by the female, and the male is the one who protects the nest.

Impact - They are excellent at pollination which is helpful for the environment. They have a smooth stinger which means they are capable of stinging more than once.

Bald Faced Hornet:

The white face of the bald-faced hornet gives it an appearance of being bald and is where their name originates.

Color - Black & White

Length - 3/4"

Diet - Their food source is primarily the juice from fruit and nectar.

Habitat - The bald-faced hornets build nests which are gray, round or oval shaped, and approximately the size of a basket ball (if they grow throughout the summer months). You may often see their nests hanging high up in the trees, but they can also be found in vegetation and bushes.

Impact - Bald-faced Hornets will violently protect their space. They have smooth stingers, meaning they can sting multiple times. They can squirt venom from their stingers which are also injected if they sting you. Side-effects of their venom can be swelling, pain and itching.

European Hornet:

Characteristically, this hornet is larger than other types of wasp. It can be anywhere in length from 1 to 1½ inches. Most wasps remain in their nests overnight, but with the European Hornet, they are busy at work and fly around. The queen is the only Hornet who lays eggs. The other females will build and protect the nest, collect food and feed the juveniles. There are, but a few males in each nest and their obligation is simply to impregnate the queen. The male dies, not long after he has mated with the queen.

Color - Black and Yellow

Length - 1 1/2”

Diet - The European hornet eats bees, grasshoppers, flies and yellow jackets. They are also partial to tree sap, the juice of fruits and other sweet tasting things.

Habitat - You will find them in an area which is protected, such as a tree which is hollowed out. They do not build nests in trees like that of the bald-faced hornet and prefer if they discover a way in, to build their nests in hollow walls or barns and sheds.

Impact - They have a considerable impact on the environment as they use bark from trees and shrubs to create their nests. They feed on the sap from trees. As with the bald-faced hornet, they have a particularly poisonous sting with their smooth stinger and can therefore sting several times.

 

Yellow Jacket:

These like bumblebees are considered social. They have queens, males, and workers in their colony and habitually hunt in groups. Once winter arrives, the only survivor from the colony is the queen. She will find a hollowed-out log and shelter herself against the harsh winter.

Color - Black and yellow

Length - ⅜-⅝"

Diet - Spiders and insects are the staple diet of the yellow jacket, but they will eat sweet human food and meats too.

Habitat - The yellow jackets are not fussy about where they build their nest. It can be in trees or shrubs, in the ground and wall cavities. Cool, dark places are their preference and near rubbish which they use as a primary source of food is ideal.

Impact - They are a great help to farmers because they eat insects, and in many cases ones which can destroy crops. Yellow jackets have a smooth stinger, meaning they can sting many times, and there is also a small volume of poison in their sting.