Bumblebee, Honey Bee or Wasp?
Bumblebee
- There are over 250 known species
- Thick and furry body. Fat all around with yellow, orange, and/or black colouring.
- Thick wings visible when landed.
- Various sizes from 2-5cm.
- Small nests of 5-500 members.
- Bumblebees do not produce a honey surplus like honeybees.
- Queens are the only bee to overwinter in hibernation.
- Bumblebees are not aggressive and will only sting when the hive is threatened.
- Bumblebee nests should be left undisturbed until the winter months when they will die out naturally.
For more information about Bumblebees go to: http://bumblebeeconservation.org/
Honey Bee
- Honey bees represent only a small fraction of 20,000 known species of bees.
- Small body, furry torso, sleek abdomen, and thin wings.
- About 2.5cm in length
- Colonies can contain as many as 25,000 bees.
- Play a major role in pollination of flowers and crops.
- Female ‘workers’ can sting only once, but the male ‘drones’ cannot sting at all
- Produce a honey comb and honey surplus
- Large portion of the colony overwinters with the queen
- Honeybees will defend their hive but are generally calm and unaggressive – even when swarming
Wasp
- There are solitary wasps and social wasps
- Social wasps exist in colonies numbering up to several thousand and build nests of chewed wood.
- They can sting more than once.
- They have few or no thickened hairs (in contrast to bees).
- They are predators – mostly on other insects.
- The vast majority of wasps play no role in pollination,
- Although mainly carnivorous, they will steal nectar if they can by raiding honey bee colonies.
- Only the queen survives the winter. For this reason wasps take longer to establish themselves in the spring.