Wasps and Bees

Key Points – Bees and Wasps

• Although both bees and wasps can sting, they are very different kinds of insects with very different habits

• Almost all stings involve wasps, specifically the western yellowjacket and the European paper wasp

• All wasps and bumble bees may a new nest every year and abandon the old nest in fall

Key Points – Bees and Wasps

• Wasp traps only work to capture yellowjackets

• Most “wasp and hornet” sprays can be used to destroy nests in problem locations

Bees Wasps

Social Bees vs. Social Wasps

Food Habits

Physical Features

Nest Construction

-Nectar and pollen

(Important as

pollinators)

-Animal material

(meat and small

arthropods)

Pollen, nectar only

incidental foods

-More hairy

-Honey bee has a

barbed stinger

-Less hairy

-None have a

barbed stinger

-Made of wax

-Hexagonal cells

present

-Made of paper

-Hexagonal cells

present

Honey Bee

Apis mellifera

Honey bee

Nest constructed

of wax

Developmental Stages of Honey Bees

Honey Bees

produce a perennial

nest

Ideal Site for

Wild Honey Bee

Hive

-Located well above

ground

-Capacity of 15L to

75L

-Small entrance,

located at bottom of

cavity

Tree cavities are

the normal nest

site used by

honey bees

Wall voids of

buildings can

provide ideal sites

for honey bees to

locate a hive

Failure to find a suitable

nest site results in a

doomed colony that will

not successfully survive

winter

Honey bees – and most

bees – collect nectar as

their primary energy

source.

Frame Filled With Honey

Honey bees – and

most bees – use pollen

as their primary source

for proteins, fats and

most other nutrients

Honey Bees Carry

Pollen in a Pollen

Basket on the Legs

Honey Bees

Produce a Perennial

Nest

Honey Bee Colonies

Produce Swarms

This may be thought of as

a type of budding as a

means for the colony – a

superorganism – to

reproduce.

Hiving a swarm

Honey bee swarm hotline Colorado Beekeepers Association

coloradobeekeepers.org

1-877-779-2337

1-877-SPY-BEES

The stinger of a

worker honey bee is

barbed

Honey bee stinger and

poison sac detach and

remain embedded in skin

Schmidt Sting Pain Index

Bumble Bees Bombus species

Bumble Bees

Bombus huntii, a

common “orange-

butted” bumble bee in

Fort Collins

FROM:

Bumble bees produce

a new nest each year

Bumble bees make hidden nests, usually

underground. Sites with insulating materials, such

as abandoned animal nests,are favored.

Bumble Bee Queens and Workers

FROM:

Bumble bees produce

a new nest each year

Bombus huntii – Overwintered queen on left

Wasps

Social Wasps

Yellowjackets

Hornets

Paper Wasps

Solitary Wasps

Hunting Wasps

Parasitic Wasps

Social Structures of Wasps

Wasps

Social Wasps

Yellowjackets

Hornets

Paper Wasps

Solitary Wasps

Hunting Wasps

Parasitic Wasps

Common Social Wasps Note: All are annual colony producers

Yellowjackets Vespula species

Prairie yellowjacket Western yellowjacket

Two species of yellowjackets predominate in Fort Collins

Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica)

Most important

stinging insect in

the western US! Worker (female)

Male Season end queen (female)

Yellowjackets almost always nest below ground

Western yellowjacket nest exposed by skunk/raccoon digging

Western yellowjacket

nest at base of wall and

spruce tree in my yard

Note mud at entrance

from excavations

during colony

expansion

Yellowjackets produce and new nest every year

Annual life cycle

Typical colony size

around 250 - 300

individuals

Western yellowjacket Vespula pennsylvanica

The western yellowjacket

is a scavenger of many

sweet or animal (meat)

materials (e.g. your

sandwich and your soda)

Western Yellowjacket scavenging on

meat (left), dead earthworm (below,

left) and splattered insects on

automobile

Western yellowjacket

feeding on fresh chicken

parts

Wasp stingers are not barbed

Most “Bee Stings” Are Not

Produced By Bees!!!!

Yellowjackets are involved

in 90%+ of all “bee stings”

Yellowjackets as pollinators?

Marginal, at best.

Several traps can capture yellowjackets

Hornets Dolichovespula species

Examples: Baldfaced Hornet and Aerial Yellowjacket

Baldfaced Hornet

Dolichovespula maculata

Aerial Yellowjacket Dolichovespula arenaria

Baldfaced hornet gathering wood fibers for nest construction

Photograph by Jim Kalisch,

University of Nebraska

Baldfaced hornets nest

in trees and shrubs

Aerial Yellowjackets

nest under eaves and

on sides of buildings

The baldfaced hornet and aerial

yellowjacket are predators. They

feed their young fresh insects

(bug burger)

Feeding Habits

Hornets never scavenge human foods

Hornets make a new nest every year

Paper Wasps

Polistes species,

primarily

Paper wasps are predators that feed their

young chewed up insects

They do not scavenge human foods

Photograph courtesy of Joseph Berger

Paper wasp gnawing on weathered board for wood fibers

Paper wasps native

to Colorado

European Paper Wasp

A new species in Colorado

(post 2001)

Photograph courtesy of Joseph Berger/BugWood.org

Nesting in hollow of

metal building beam

Nesting under

eaves

Nest in a metal pipe

used for clothes line

Nest in an old boot

hung on a stake

Large Nest of European Paper Wasp

European Paper

Wasp

Western

Yellowjacket

These are

two insects

that look a lot

alike!!!

Note trailing legs of European paper wasp

Western yellowjacket

Thinner body with

paper wasp

More compact body

with yellowjacket

European Paper Wasp

vs.Western Yellowjacket

• Predator of insects, primarily

• Produces open nests above ground

• Less likely to sting than most social wasps/bees

• Not attracted to wasp traps

• Scavenger. Commonly visits food and garbage.

• Produces below-ground or hidden nest

• Readily stings when nest disturbed

• Attracted to wasp traps

Some Impacts of the

European paper wasp on the

Rocky Mountain West

• Added a significant new stinging pest

to region

– Highly visible

• Impacts on yard/garden Lepidoptera

• Impacts on some fruit production

• Stimulates stupid purchases

Nests are ubiquitous

and very frequently

observed. Stings are

common, although

not as common as by

western yellowjacket.

Impacts on

yard/garden

Lepidoptera

European paper

wasps acting badly –

fruit injuries!

It has stimulated sales of products useless for its

management.

European Paper Wasp

vs.Western Yellowjacket

• Predator of insects, primarily

• Produces open nests above ground

• Less likely to sting than most social wasps/bees

• Not attracted to wasp traps

• Scavenger. Commonly visits food and garbage.

• Produces below-ground or hidden nest

• Readily stings when nest disturbed

• Attracted to wasp traps

Options to Control Nuisance

Wasps

• Wait for the colony to die out.

• Kill out problem nests with

wasp and hornet spray

• Early season trapping may

reduce numbers of

yellowjackets

Typical Wasp and Hornet Spray Product

• Has a quick knockdown

insecticide

• Has a more persistent

insecticide

• Has a propellent, often

designed to produce

directed jet with some

force

Control of paper wasps with “wasp and hornet” sprays

Colony is exposed Generally easy to access Generally effective with a single application

Control of hornets with “wasp and hornet” sprays

Colony is exposed Generally difficult to access Generally effective with a single application

Control of yellowjackets with “wasp and hornet” sprays

Colony is not exposed and may be hidden deeply Generally difficult to access Generally required multiple treatments with persistent insecticides

Spraying Wasp Nests

• Best done at night or when

temperatures are cool enough to

prevent flight

• If treating at night do not hold the

light!

Wasp Traps

When to optimally use

a trap for yellowjacket

control?

Mid to Late Spring.

Target the overwintered

queen before she has

established a colony

Traps do not

capture the

European paper

wasp or any

other paper

wasps

1

3

2 329

174

Comparison of Yellowjacket

Capture in Retailed Traps • Sterling Rescue! Reusable Trap – 64.8

• Sterling Rescue! Disposable Yellowjacket Trap – 25.5

• Safer Brand Deluxe Yellow Jacket/ Wasp Trap – 17.8

• Victor Yellow Jacket Magnet Bag Trap – 9.3

• Safer Brand disposable Yellow Jacket Trap – 9.0

• Victor Yellow Jacket Trap – 1.0

• Raid Disposable Yellow Jacket Trap – 0.0

The two traps that

were most effective

at capturing

yellowjackets

A totally useless trap to

capture yellowjackets – or

any local wasps

Another useless

yellowjacket trap

Traps do not

capture the

European paper

wasp or any

other paper

wasps

WHY Trap

Wasp

Hornet

Yellowjacket

Trap next to Waspinator Paired trap out-of-sight

of Waspinator

9.6 Western yellowjackets/day 10.6 Western

yellowjackets/day

Results – No significant differences in capture of

western yellowjackets related to Waspinator

proximity

Waspinator – Attempt to

mimic nest of the

Baldfaced Hornet????

Key Points – Bees and Wasps

• Although both bees and wasps can sting, they are very different kinds of insects with very different habits

• Almost all stings involve wasps, specifically the western yellowjacket and the European paper wasp

• All wasps and bumble bees may a new nest every year and abandon the old nest in fall

Key Points – Bees and Wasps

• Wasp traps only work to capture yellowjackets

• Most “wasp and hornet” sprays can be used to destroy nests in problem locations