Bees
& Wasps
Wasps
and bees are beneficial insects but considered pests because of their
ability to sting. While both social bees and wasps live in colonies
ruled by queens and maintained by workers, they look and behave differently.
Different methods are used to control them should they become a nuisance.
Appearance: Wasps have a slender body with a narrow waist,
slender, cylindrical legs and appear smoothed-skinned and shiny. Yellowjackets,
baldfaced hornets and paper wasps are the most common types of wasps
encountered by humans.
Diet: Wasps are predators, feeding insects and other arthropods
to their young, which develop in the nests. They prey on many insects;
including: caterpillars, flies, crickets and other pests. During late
summer and fall wasps change their food gathering priorities and are
more interested in collecting sweets and other carbohydrates. Some
wasps may become aggressive scavengers around human food and may be
commond around outdoor activities where food and drink are served.
Bees, however, feed only on nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen
(protein) from flowers. Hone bees sometimes visit trash cans and soft-drink
containers to feed on sugary foods.
Bee and Wasp Stings: Bees and wasps sting to defend
themselves and/or their colony. The actual stinging involves the injection
of a protein venom that causes pain and other more serious reactions.
Bumble bees and wasps can sting more than once because they are able
to pull out their stinger without injury to themselves (the stinger
is not left in the animal/human skin where stung).
Honey bees have barbs on their stinger which remain hooked in the
skin. The stinger, which is connected to the digestive system of the
bee, is torn out of the abdomen as the bee attempts to fly away. As
a result, the bee dies shortly after the sting.
MEDICAL NOTE: If stung by a honey bee, scratch out the stinger with
a fingernail ASAP. do not try to pull out the stinger between two
fingers, etc., as the venom gland may still be attached to the stinger
and, if pinched, may force more venom into the victim's skin.
Baldfaced Hornet
Latin Name:
Nesting sites: Make nests from a papery pulp comrpised of
chewed-up wood fibers mixed with saliva. Large, cone-shaped nests
consist of a series of rounded combs stacked in tiers; in quiet, out
of the way places . These combs are covered by an envelope consisting
of several layers of pulp.
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Bumble Bee
Latin Name:
Habitat: Have annual colonies only; the colony dies in the
fall with only the newly produced queens surviving the winter. The
new queens leave their nests during late summer and mate with males.
The queens then seek out overwintering sites, such as under loose
bark, in rotted logs, under siding or tile, and in other small crevices
and spaces, where they become dormant. These queens become active
the following spring when temperatures warm. They search for favorable
nesting sites to construct new nests. They do not reuse old nests.
Nesting Site: Use old mice burrows, cavities in buildings,
and other locations to make their nests. Like honey bees, bumble bees
make cells of wax.
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Honey Bee
Latin Name:
Habitat: Perennial insects with colonies that survive
more than one year. Honey bees form a cluster when hive temperatues
approach 57 degrees F. As the temperature drops, the cluster of bees
becomes more compact. Bees inside this mass consume honey and generate
heat so they do not freeze. As long as honey is available in the cluster,
a strong colony can withstand temperatures down to -30 degrees F.,
or lower, for extended periods of time.
Nesting Site: Make a series of vertical honey combs made of
wax. Their colonies are mostly in manufactured hives buty they do
occasionally nest in cavities in large trees, voids in building walls,
or other protected areas.
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Paper Wasp
Latin Name:
Habitat: Have annual colonies only; the colony dies in the
fall with only the newly produced queens surviving the winter. The
new queens leave their nexts during late summer and mate with males.
The queens then seek out overwintering sites, such as under loose
bark, in rotted logs, under siding or tile, and in other small crevices
and spaces, where they become dormant. These queens become active
the following spring when temperatures warm. They search for favorable
nesting sites to construct new nests. They do not reuse old nests.
Nesting sites: Make nests from a papery pulp comrpised of
chewed-up wood fibers mixed with saliva; constructing only one comb
without any protective enveope. (These insects are sometimes known
as umbrella wasps because of the sahpe of their nest.)
Paper wasps build nexts under any horizontal surface and
are commonly found on limbs, overhangs, eaves of buildings, beams
and supports in attics, garages, barns, sheds and other similar places.
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Yellowjacket
Latin Name:
Habitat: Belong to a group of social wasps that cooperate to
build and defend their queen and colony. Starting nest construction
in the srping, by Setember a nest may number 3,000 or more foraging
workers. "German yellowjacket" reached Wisconsin in 1979,
which sparked an increase in emergency room treatments for stings.
Nesting sites: Make nests from a papery pulp comprised of
chewed-up wood fibers mixed with saliva; in quiet, out of the way
places. Nests consist of a series of rounded combs stacked in tiers.
These combs are covered by an envelope consisting of several layers
of pulp.
Yellowjackets commonly build nests below ground in
old rodent burrows or other cavities. They can also build nests in
trees, shrubs, under eaves, and inside attics or wall voids. Baldfaced
hornets commonly build nests in the open, in trees, under the eaves
of roofs, and along the sides of buildings.
Diet: Kill small soft-bodied insects and
are aggressive scavengers with a taste for protein and sweet foods.
Foragers return to their nest with food, which they feed to adult
and larval wasps.
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