People often mix up wasps and bees because they look so much alike, but they are actually two different groups of insects with different traits, behaviours, and natural roles. It’s important to know the differences and similarities between wasps and bees, even though they have some things in common, like being able to sting. We will look at how to tell these buzzing insects apart in this help.
Details about the body
How it looks:
Wasps: The bodies of most wasps are striped with bright yellow and black. Different colours of brown, red, or orange may show up in different species.
Bees: Bees also have yellow and black lines, but the way they look can be different between species. Some bees are all black or brown, while others have yellow spots that cover a lot of their bodies.
Type of Body:
Wasps: Wasps’ bodies are usually thin, long, and have a clear stomach. It looks like their bodies are smooth and shiny.
Bees: The bodies of bees tend to be stronger and hairier. They look fuzzy or hairy because they are covered in tiny hairs.
Behaviour That Stings
Hurtful Things:
Wasps: Wasps have smooth stingers that let them sting many times without hurting themselves. People say that their stings hurt a lot.
Bees: Because bees’ stingers are sharp, they get stuck in the skin after just one sting, killing the bee soon after. Some bee stings are more painful than wasp stings, but not all of the time.
Getting angry:
Wasps: Some types of wasps can be worse, especially when they are protecting their homes. In times of danger, they are more likely to sting.
Wasps: Bees are usually not as mean as some kinds of wasps. They spend more time looking for food and gathering nectar and pollen for their bees.
Roles in Ecology
Making pollen:
Wasps: Wasps don’t do most of the pollinating. They may go to flowers to get nectar, but they aren’t as good at fertilization as bees.
Pollinators, like bees, are very important to blooming plants because they spread pollen. They have special parts that help them gather and move pollen.
How They Nest
Type of Nest:
Wasps: Wasps make different kinds of nests, such as paper nests, burrows in the ground, and nests in the air. Paper wasps make homes that look like paper out of chewed wood fibres mixed with saliva.
Bugs: Bees are known for making hives, or nests, in trees, holes in the ground, and other places. In their nests, honeybees build complex structures out of wax combs.
Structure of Society
Size of the colony:
Wasps: Wasp colonies come in different sizes, but they are usually smaller than honeybee colonies. There can be hundreds or even thousands of social wasps in a group, like yellow jackets.
It’s very organized for honeybee colonies, which can have tens of thousands of people, including workers, drones, and a single queen.
What you do in the colony:
Did you know that wasp colonies have queens, workers, and males? Queens lay eggs, workers find food and keep the home safe, and males mate with queens.
Bees: Honeybee colonies are more complicated than other bee colonies because workers, drones, and a single queen all have different jobs to do. Workers get water, nectar, and pollen, and drones mate with the queen.
Wasps and bees have some things in common, like being able to sting and being the same colour, but they are also very different in how they look, how they sting, what role they play in the environment, and how they live together. When you know these differences, you can tell these insects apart properly and enjoy what they bring to the natural world.
The licensed exterminators at Wasp Control Lindsay are specially trained, certified, and insured to guarantee a high-quality of service. We specialize in wasp nest removal and extermination from commercial and residential properties inside and outside the building. Our wasp removal process.