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Identifying Bees,
Wasps,
Hornets and their Nestsnude boy cz
bee facts main | identifying
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world of beekeeping |
enemies of beesnude boy cz
Who are
you calling a bee, Mister?!
People are
always sharing their bee sting stories with me. The
problem is that most of the time they are not bee sting
stories at all. It's usually a wasp or hornet
sting story. It
seems that no matter what insect people get stung by, it’s usually the poor honeybee that gets blamed. nude boy cz
Honeybees are
usually very docile, where wasps and hornets tend to be more
aggressive. However, none of these creatures leave their
hives on a mission to sting. They only sting to defend
themselves. Remember, honeybees pollinate 1/3 of all our
crops. Wasps and hornets eat many of the bad bugs that
destroy our gardens. An occasional sting is a small price to
pay for all the good they do.nude boy cz
Below are some
pictures of various bees, wasps, hornets and their nests.nude boy cz
The Honeybee
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| Honeybee |
Wild Honeybee Hive |
Honeybees
colors can range from tan with black bands on their abdomen,
to almost totally black. Their bodies are covered with fine
hair. They build their hives out of wax, which is secreted
from glands on their abdomens. They pick off the secreted
wax flakes and form it into hexagon shaped cells; this is
known as honeycomb. In the wild, the honeybee will usually
try to find a protected area such as a hollow tree in which
to build their honeycomb. On occasion they will build their
hive hanging from a tree branch. This is not the best
location for the honeybee, as when the winter comes, these
bees will die because they are exposed to the elements. A
hive on a tree branch should not be confused with a swarm. A
swarm of bees is a group of 10,000 to 25,000 bees huddled
together in a huge cluster, usually on a branch, mailbox,
building or any outside structure. A swarm is nothing more
than a group of bees looking for a new home.nude boy cz
The Mason Bee
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| Mason Bee |
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Mason bees look similar
to a honeybee but are much smaller and darker. They use tiny
holes in wood and trees as their nests. They deposit their
eggs into these holes along with pollen and nectar and then
cap it over with mud. The young bees develop over the winter
and emerge in the spring.nude boy cz
The Bumble Bee
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| Bumble bee |
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Bumble bees are big
furry bees black and yellow in color. They make their hives
by mixing mud and wax to create many small “honey pots”.
These honey pots are used to raise the young bees as well as
to store honey. Bumble bees hives can usually be found
underground. They like to build their hives in abandoned
mouse nests or in materials such as cottons or fiber fill
that can be found in things like old car seats and pillows.nude boy cz
The Carpenter Bee
 nude boy cz
Carpenter
bees are large fuzzy bees black and yellow in color. They
look very much like the bumble bee but lack the furry
abdomen. Carpenter bees chew holes into wood an inch or so
and then downwards several inches. The female carpenter bee
then deposits her eggs in this tunnel along with some food
for the larvae for when it hatches.nude boy cz
The Paper Wasp
 nude boy cz
Paper wasps are
slender reddish-brown to black in color with yellow stripes.
They make small round nests by chewing up wood and mixing it
with their saliva. They then form this paper mache type
substance into a honeycomb pattern. The cells of the nest
are exposed from the bottom in which they lay their eggs.
These nests can are usually located in areas such as
underneath rain gutters or eaves of houses. These structures
serve as a protection for the nest.nude boy cz
Bald or White Faced Hornet
Bald Faced Hornets or
White Faced Hornets are about one inch in length
bluish-black in color with white markings on their face,
thorax and abdomen. They usually build their nests on tree
branches. They build their nests using the “paper mache”
technique. This nest has a football shaped appearance and
has an entrance hole towards the bottom. They are usually
grey in color but the color of the nest may vary depending
on the type of wood they use to make the nest. Within these
nests are several layers of honeycomb shaped structures
where the wasps raise their young.nude boy cz
  nude boy cz
Yellow Jackets
Yellow Jacket Hornets
have black and yellow stripes. They often build their nests
in the ground usually in mulched areas and near shrubbery.
They also use the paper mache technique to build several
layers of honeycomb shaped nests. Yellow jackets can often
be found in the walls and ceilings of homes. One telltale
sign of this is a yellow moist stain which can be seen on
the ceiling.nude boy cz
Mud Dauber Wasp
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| Mud Dauber wasp and its nest |
Mud Dauber Wasps are
long and slender with a narrow thread like waist. Their
colors range from solid steel blue to black and some have
additional yellow markings. Mud daubers collect mud to make
their nests. Making a tube like structure, they lay their
eggs inside where the young develop over the winter and
hatch in the spring.nude boy cz
Tomato, Tomahto; Potato, Potahto; Wasp, Hornet…
Q: What is the difference
between a wasp and a hornet? They are both in the vespa family. However is a wasp a hornet and/or a hornet a
wasp? I tried to look up these two creatures but cannot
find out what the exact difference is between the two. Along the same
lines...can a "yellow jacket"-type wasp be called a hornet?nude boy cz
A: Wasp and hornet are
somewhat generic terms - that is why we have scientific
names! What most people call a "hornet" is the bald-faced
hornet, which builds large - up to basketball size - paper
nests in trees. Yellow-jackets are closely related and may
be called either wasps or hornets. In the eastern U.S. there
are 2 common yellow jackets, nearly identical in appearance,
a native one lives in the ground and a European import more likely in buildings. Bald faced hornets and yellow jackets
are all in the subfamily Vespinae. Many other related
insects are called wasps, often they are more narrow-wasted
than the Vespas and either solitary or have only relatively
small social colonies. They include potters and paper wasps
that attach small nests to buildings and many other kinds. nude boy cz
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