There are 10,0000 - 20,000 species of bee, including many wasplike and flylike bees. Bees are four-winged, flower-feeding insects. They have enlarged hind feet, branched or feathered body hairs, and generally a stinger. Most bees are small from 2 mm (.08 inches) long to 4 cm (1.6 inches) long. Bees and wasps are closely related. The main difference is that bees provide their young with pollen and honey, while wasps eat animal food, insects, or spiders. In addition, wasps have unbranched hairs.

The urban pests of the order Hymenoptera are the stinging insects. Although the first image to come to mind implies danger to humans, these yellowjackets, hornets, and wasps sometimes serve our interest: They feed their young largely on flies and caterpillars.

Many of these stinging insects are social. They live in colonies with a caste system or a division of labor and overlapping generations -- all offspring of one individual reproductive. Some of these colonies persist for many years (ants, honey bees) and others, like stinging wasps, start anew each year.

Honey Bees - the Beneficial Family Member (most of the time)

The Honey bee (Apis mellifera) lives in hives or colonies. A small hive contains about 20,000 bees, while some larger hives may have over 100,000 bees. Hives include one queen, hundreds of drones, and thousands of worker bees. The worker bees - the smallest bees in the colony - are undeveloped females: they do not breed. Workers feed the queen and larvae, guard the hive entrance and help to keep the hive cool by fanning their wings. Honey bees' wings stroke over 11,000 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.

A colony can have up to 60,000 workers. The life span of a worker bee depends upon the time of year. Her life expectancy can be as long as 35 days.

The queen bee is female and creates all the babies for the hive. The drone bees are male and do not have stingers. Drones do not collect food or pollen from flowers. Their sole purpose is to mate with the queen. If the colony is short on food, drones are often kicked out of the hive. The honeybee is very popular, and has been adopted by at least sixteen states as the state insect.

Bees communicate with each other about food sources using dances. The sounds from the movement of the bees is picked up by the tiny hairs on the bee's head. Bees use the sun in navigation.

The honeybee's hive has hexagonal cells made of wax, called the comb. Its have walls are only 2/1000 inch thick, but support 25 times their own weight. This is where the queen bee lays her eggs. She can lay 1500 eggs in one day. When the larvae hatch, they are fed by the worker bees. The workers collect pollen and nectar from flowers. The pollen is used as a protein source and the nectar is an energy source. Some of the pollen lands on the pistils of the flower and results in cross-pollination. This is important for some crops and flowers. The relationship between the plant and the insect is called symbiosis.

Worker bees collect nectar to make honey. Workers must visit over four thousand flowers to make just a tablespoon of honey. Beekeepers must be very careful when they remove honey from the hive. They try not to hurt the bees. The beekeepers give sugar syrup to the bees to replace the honey that they take.

When colony populations are high, the queen may move part of the colony to new harborage. Bees swarm at this time, usually finding hollow trees to begin their new colony, but they occasionally work their way into building wall voids.

A honey bee colony in a house wall can cause major problems. The bees can chew through the wall and fly inside. Their storage of large amounts of honey invites other bees and wasps. Their detritus (e.g., dead bees, shedded larval skins, wax caps from combs and other material) attracts beetles and moths.

When a bee colony is found in a building wall, it must be killed. Killing can be accomplished in the same way as killing yellowjackets in wall voids is done. Listen to the bee noise from inside rooms to locate the exact position of the nest in the wall to assure that the whole colony is treated.

After the colony is dead, remove the nest. If the nest is not removed, the wax combs - normally cooled by the bees - will melt and allow honey to flow down through the walls. Honey stain can never be removed; the walls will have to be replaced. As well, the freed honey attracts robber bees and wasps. The comb wax will attract wax moths that may persist for several years, and dead bees will attract carpet beetles. After the colony is killed the entrance hole should be caulked or repaired to prevent further bee infestation.

For more information, please select these pages:

The Africanized Honey Bee (the "Killer Bee")

Yellowjackets - Your Uninvited Picnic Guests

Carpenter Bees

Cicada Killer Wasps

Mud Dauber Wasps

The Giant Hornet Wasp

Paper Wasps

Get the Point about Bee Stings