Kenosha News

What’s the buzzzzzz?

What you need to know about bees, yellowjackets and wasps

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BY DIANE GILESdgiles@kenoshanews.com

What’s yellow and black and buzzes?

I don’t know, but it just stung me, and man, it hurts!

This is the season when bee and wasp activity can be at a frenzy as these stinging insects prepare for winter and the future of their colonies.

If you feel you are being pursued by a stinging insect, avoid sudden movements and loud sounds, as these can startle bees, wasps and yellow jackets and cause them to sting.

Being able to differentiate between these different stinging insects is valuable in understanding what type is swarming around your property.

Bumble bee

Wasp or bee?

Bee

Home of paper or wax?

They construct cells of wax.

Where do they nest?

They use old mice burrows, cavities in buildings and other locations.

What you need to know:

These are more robust and are larger than other bees. They like to hang out where the flowers are, but that doesn’t mean just flowerbeds and gardens. Many people get stung stepping on bees as they walk through the grass laden with clover flowers.

Honey bee

Wasp or bee?

Bee

Home of paper or wax?

They make a series of vertical honey combs made of wax.

Where do they nest?

Colonies are mostly in manufactured hives but occasionally nest in cavities in large trees, in between walls or other protected areas.

What you need to know:

Honey bees are about a half-inch long. If you are stung by a honey bee, scratch out the stinger with its attached venom gland with your fingernail or credit card as soon as possible. Do not try to pull out the stinger between two fingers: that only forces more venom into your skin, causing greater irritation.

Yellowjackets

Wasp or bee?

Wasp

Home of paper or wax?

Nests are made from a papery pulp comprised of chewed-up wood fibers mixed with saliva. Their nests are constructed in a series of rounded combs stacked in tiers, and the combs are covered by an envelope consisting of several layers of pulp.

Where do they nest?

Commonly build nests below ground in old rodent burrows, but also in trees, shrubs, under eaves, and inside attics or in between walls.

What you need to know:

During late summer and fall, yellowjackets become aggressive scavengers and love to join your picnic where food or drinks are being served. Be careful when mowing the lawn. Try to avoid going over ground nests and disturbing them.

Paper wasp

Wasp or bee?

Wasp

Home of paper or wax?

Nests are made from a papery pulp; they construct one comb without any protective envelope.

Where do they nest?

They build nests under any horizontal surface and can be found on limbs, overhangs, eaves of buildings, beams and supports in attics, garages, barns and sheds.

What you need to know:

The colony dies in the fall with freezing weather, with only the newly produced queens surviving the winter. They do not reuse old nests. As in the case with all wasp nests, if you can’t wait until the first freeze, it’s safer to call a professional pest controller to remove a nest.

Baldfaced hornet

Wasp or bee?

Wasp

Home of paper or wax?

Nests are made from a papery pulp. Their nests are constructed in a series of rounded combs stacked in tiers, and the combs are covered by an envelope consisting of several layers of pulp.

Where do they nest?

They build nests in the open in trees, under eaves and along the sides of buildings.

What you need to know:

Baldfaced hornets are less yellow in color than other wasps. They are very protective of their nests and will sting repeatedly if the nest is physically disturbed. All but the new queens will die with the cold weather and they do not reuse old nests.

Source: Phil Pellitteri, insect diagnostician and entomology specialist University of Wisconsin — Madison; and University of Minnesota — Extension website

Fast facts:

-- All bees and wasps have four wings. There are some black-and-yellow imposters with two wings, but these are flies disguised as bees.

-- Bees are hairy compared with wasps, and hairs tend to be branched like feathers. Only the bees make honey.

-- Bees are relatively unaggressive unless they feel their nest is in danger, and then they will sting.

-- Wasps can be quite aggressive, although mostly so when they feel their nest has been threatened.

-- Trying to remove nests on your own can have terrifying consequences, as these insects will aggressively attack. Get a professional to remove them.

-- To protect yourself from random contact, you can wear light-colored clothing, avoid the use of the flowery and scented cosmetics and perfumes, and make sure to wear clothing that covers your entire body while working outdoors.

-- The 2010 wet spring was not good for ground nesters like the German yellowjackets and therefore we are seeing fewer yellowjackets than in other years.

-- Worker honeybees have barbed stingers, which will stay stuck in your skin. They only sting once, then they die. All other bees and wasps can sting multiple times and do not leave stingers behind.

Sources: Phil Pellitteri, insect diagnostician and entomology specialist University of Wisconsin — Madison; University of Minnesota Extension; and University of California Riverside Entomology Research Museum

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