Characteristics of common wasps and bees

While easily confused at a distance or without close observation, there are many different characteristics of common large bees and wasps which can be used to identify them.

	Bees		Wasps (Family: Vespidae)
	Western honey bee	Bumblebee	Yellow Jacket	Paper Wasp	Bald-faced hornet	European hornet
Colors	Amber to brown translucent alternating with black stripes.[1] (video) Exact pattern and colouration varies depending on strain/breed.	Yellow with black stripes, sometimes with red tail, to dark as in Bombus pratorum.[2] (video)	Black and opaque bright yellow stripes. (video)	Dusty yellow to dark brown or black. (video)	Black and ivory white markings. (video)	Black and dark body with yellow.[3] (video)
Coat	Furry (short hair).	Furry (long hair).	Little or no hair.			Some hair.
Size	1.3 cm (0.51 in)	2.5 cm (0.98 in)[4]	1.3 cm (0.51 in)	1.9 to 2.5 cm (0.75 to 0.98 in)	up to 3.0 cm (1.2 in)	up to 3.5 cm (1.4 in)
Legs	Not generally visible while flying.[5]		Two thin long legs are visible hanging down during flight.[6] There are no pollen baskets.
Behavior	Gentle.[7][8]	Gentle.[8]	Aggressive.[8]	Gentle.[8]	Aggressive.[8]	Gentle.[8][9]
Food	Pollen and Nectar from flowers.		Other insects, overripe fruit, sugary drinks, human food / food waste, meat.[10]	Other insects.
Sting	Kills bee,[11] continues pumping (barbed).	Retracts; can repeat (smooth).				Rarely stings (hornet rarely stings)
Sting Pain	2.0	2.0	2.x	3.x	2.5	2.x[9]
Lights	Not attracted to lights at night unless nest is disturbed, or light placed near hive.				Attracted to lights at night.
Lives in	Large colonies of flat wax-based honeycomb hanging vertically.	Small cavities in the soil.	Small umbrella-shaped papery combs hanging horizontally in protected spaces such as attics, eaves or soil cavities.		Large paper nest, upside down pear shaped, hanging from branches / eaves.[12]	Very large paper nest in hollow trees, sheltered positions.[13]

See also

• Schmidt Sting Pain Index

Notes

1. that is in general. Some are mostly black
2. Benton, Ted (2006). "Chapter 9: The British Species". Bumblebees. London, UK: HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 338–342. ISBN 0007174519.
3. there are different geographic colour forms
4. or more
5. Light-colored pollen on the pollen baskets on a honeybee's rear legs can be visible.
6. This generally only applies to paper wasps. Yellow jackets' legs are not generally visible while flying.
7. Domesticated bees have been selected over time for gentleness. There are several races of domesticated honey bees with varying characteristics of honey production, disease resistance and gentleness.
8. Aggressive hive defence
9. Other hornet species (those not European hornet) have a more toxic sting, and are more aggressive.
10. Yellow jackets are carnivorous during the brood rearing part of the season. They feed insects to their brood, and obtain the sugar for their flight-muscle energy mostly from secretions of the brood. During this time they can be attracted to traps baited with meat or fish. Near the end of summer, when brood rearing ceases and this sugar source is no longer available, yellow jackets become frantic for sugar, and can be baited with sugar-based baits. They are also much more likely to visit fall flowers for nectar, than they are earlier in the season.
11. Since the barbed stinger evolved as a colony defence against vertebrates, the invariable outcome of stinging a mammal or bird is that the stinger becomes lodged in the victim's skin and tears free from the honey bee's body, leading to her death within minutes. As such, there is rarely any evolutionary advantage for a bee to sting a mammal to defend itself as an individual; honey bees will generally only sting when the hive is directly threatened, and honey bees found in the field or on a flower will rarely sting. Note: Africanized honey bees can be more aggressive than the more common European honey bees, but still only defend the hive, and their sting is the same.
12. Also barns, attics
13. Has a brown protective layer when the nest is in an unsheltered position. Also barns, attics, hollow walls, abandoned bee hives

Further reading

• N. R. Levick, J. O. Schmidt, J. Harrison, G. S. Smith, and K. D. Winkel (2000). "Review of bee and wasp sting injuries in Australia and the U.S.A. § Bees versus wasps: Appearance, Behaviour, and Venom chemistry". In Andrew D. Austin and Mark Dowton. Hymenoptera: evolution, biodiversity and biological control. Csiro Publishing. pp. 439–440. ISBN 978-0-643-06610-6.
• P. Gopalakrishnakone (1990). "Differences between wasps and bees". A Colour guide to dangerous animals. NUS Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-9971-69-150-9.
• Philip B. Mortenson (2008). "Bee · Wasp · Hornet · Ant". How to tell a turtle from a tortoise: a close look at nature's most confusing terms. Barnes & Noble. ISBN 978-0-7607-9002-1.
• Kevin T. Fitzgerald and Rebecca Vera (2006). "Insects — Hymenoptera". In Michael Edward Peterson and Patricia A. Talcott. Small animal toxicology (2nd ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 978-0-7216-0639-2.

External links

• Ohio State University Yellowjacket factsheet
• Ohio State University Hornet factsheet
• What's Buzzin' in My Garden?
• Differences between wasps and bees poster