What’s the Buzz?
Summer flowers are in full bloom, which means humming birds, butterflies and bees are all getting their fill of nectar and pollen before autumn sets in. With all of the buzzing around the garden this summer, it should be noted that not all insects of the bee genus are created equal. Each serves a different purpose in our great ecosystem: some are pollinators while others are insect killers. These busy bees work all summer long to help maintain our gardens and allow them to flourish. But gardener beware, bee stings cannot only be painful; for some, their stings can be fatal. If you love spending time outdoors, there are four main types of bees and wasps that you should learn to identify so that you can reduce your risk of being stung.
Honeybees
What They Are
Honeybees are essential to any flourishing garden and live in a complex social colony. Worker bees are asexual females who spend all spring and summer collecting nectar and pollen from flowers to build and protect their hive. Male bees, called drones, are spawned from unfertilized eggs and do not have stingers. There is only one queen bee per hive, and her sole function is to live in the hive and lay eggs, so that she can produce the next generation of female worker bees. If the queen dies, the worker bees will elect one female and feed her an axillar called “royal jelly,” which enables her to develop into a fertile queen.
Where They Live
Honeybees nest in protected areas like tree cavities, attics, or storage sheds. If aggravated, they will sting just once (unlike their fuzzier cousin the bumblebee, which can sting multiple times). When a honeybee stings, its barbed stinger is ripped from its body, killing it.
Reduce Your Risk
To prevent your home from becoming a honeybee sanctuary, seal all openings where pipes and wires enter your home and fill in gaps on your siding. If you spot a swarm, call a local beekeeper to wrangle them out. Honeybees are endangered due to a parasite outbreak and exposure to harmful insecticides. It is estimated that the US has fewer honeybees than it has ever had, and the UK and Europe have seen their honeybee population drop by 50 percent in the past 25 years. So, it is best that a proper beekeeper remove your nest.
Carpenter Bees
What They Are
Carpenter bees are large, robust insects resembling their cousin, the bumblebee. They are usually about one inch long and are yellow with shiny, blue-black bodies. Males have golden or buff colored bodies and spotted black-and-white heads. Carpenter bees are solitary bees. They do not form colonies, rather choosing to cohabitate with their mothers and daughters. There is often a division of labor between the family hive, where one set of the females will forage for food by gathering pollen and nectar, while the others stand guard in the nest. As the females work to build the nest and find food, males lurk around looking menacing. Males can be aggressive, but it is generally just for show because they cannot sting. Only female carpenter bees have a stinger.
Where They Live
Carpenter bees are known for their ability to bore perfectly round holes into wood. They are often found in eaves and beneath decks. Their nests can cosmetically damage the wood, but they will not cause structural damage.
Reduce Your Risk
Carpenter bees prefer untreated wood, so it is best to paint or stain your wood decks or any exterior wood on your house. If you discover a sprinkling of sawdust near your house, it could be an indication that you have an infestation. If you believe you have a carpenter bee hangout, call an exterminator to remove the nest.
Yellow Jackets
What They Are
“Yellow jacket” is the common North American name for wasp. These insects can be mistaken for honeybees since they are similar in shape and color, but unlike honeybees, yellow jackets do not have hairy arms or legs and do not carry pollen. Yellow jackets are aggressive and feed on caterpillars, spiders, other bees and sugary carbohydrates, which is why you often see them hanging around trashcans and backyard barbecues.
Where They Live
Yellow jackets tend to build nests in small crevices in the ground or in rotted out trees. Wasps build their nests out of a paper-like fiber made from chewed wood and their saliva.
Reduce Your Risk
Yellow jackets are sensitive. Just walking by a nest may provoke an attack. And, the sounds and vibrations emitted from a lawn mower can really set them off. Before you decide to tackle a new landscaping project or even mow the lawn, you should survey your property carefully. If you find a nest, call a professional. Do not try to remove the nest yourself.
Hornets
What They Are
Hornets are in the wasp family and survive on other insects and food scraps. Worker hornets are females and defend their hives with their potent stingers. Hornets will not attack a human unless they feel that their nest is threatened. Hornet stings are more painful than other wasps because their venom contains acetylcholine, which attacks the nervous system. Stings from hornets can be fatal if a person has an allergic reaction to the venom and goes into anaphylactic shock.
Where They Live
Hornets like to live in rotted out wood and build a papery nest similar to yellow jackets. They can be found in trees, under eaves and decks.
Reduce Your Risk
If you discover a hornets’ nest on your property, get a professional to remove it. Hornets love rotted wood so make sure your wood has been treated or remove it. They also like to feed on food scraps, so you should make sure your garbage cans are tightly secured.
How to treat stings
- Move to a safe area to avoid additional stings.
- Remove the stinger if it is stuck in your skin. Do not remove the stinger with tweezers as this may push it further into your skin. One way to remove the stinger if it is close to the surface is to use the edge of a credit card and slide the skin downward, so that the entire stinger is exposed and can be easily removed.
- Apply an anti-itch cream to soothe the skin and stop the itch.
- Apply a cold pack to reduce swelling.
Most stings will cause a raised welt in the infected area that can be itchy and tender.
If you experience the following severe symptoms, contact your doctor right away:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Difficulty breathing
- Abdominal pain
- Low blood pressure
Photo credits
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=b8e79170-6c1d-42af-bb97-b4823795bafb
http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2010/04/carpenter-bees.html
http://www.dereila.ca/whispers/one.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6049302/Tourists-warned-as-Asian-hornets-terrorise-French.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9296695/Garden-flowers-evolved-velcro-petals-to-help-bees-cling-on.html
[1] http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/honeybee/