What's that buzzing sound in your yard? You might have a nest located on your property. Learning the difference between the different types of stinging bugs like bees, wasps, and hornets is important to understand what kind of pest problem you may be dealing with.
Understanding Stingers...Literally.
Stingers are fascinating yet formidable tools used by female bees and wasps for both defense and reproduction. Unlike honey bees, which have a barbed stinger that gets lodged in the skin of their target—resulting in the bee's death after stinging—carpenter bees possess a smooth stinger.
This means a carpenter bee can sting multiple times without harm to itself. Similarly, paper wasps and yellow jackets also have smooth stingers, allowing them to sting repeatedly if they feel threatened.
Interestingly, male bees and wasps are stinger-less, as they lack the modified ovipositor that females use as a stinger. Generally, stingers are a last resort for these insects, who are more focused on gathering food and caring for their young. Some species, like mud daubers, are known for their docile nature and rarely sting unless provoked.
It's crucial to exercise caution around bees and wasps, as their stings can cause significant pain and, in some cases, severe allergic reactions. Understanding the different types of stingers and their uses can help you better navigate encounters with these buzzing insects.
What to Do if You Get Stung
Carpenter Bees: Rarely sting, but if they do, mild swelling and pain may occur.
Wasps & Hornets: Can sting multiple times. Remove the stinger (if present), clean the area, apply ice, and take antihistamines if swelling occurs.
Allergic Reactions: Seek medical attention immediately if you experience difficulty breathing, swelling beyond the sting site, or dizziness.
Contemptible Carpenter Bees
Often mistaken as bumble bees, carpenter bees are a little larger in size but have a smooth abdomen attached to their furry thorax. Carpenter bees are usually orange or yellow, and they rarely sting people.
If you find holes in the soft wood of your home, you may be housing carpenter bees. Untreated pine, redwood, and cedar are a few favorites for carpenter bees to drill holes into, creating a place for themselves to nest.
They create many channels that allow them to move around inside the wood, which ultimately causes structural damage. If you suspect that you have carpenter bees, it's important to contact the experts at Greenix immediately before the damage becomes overwhelming.
PEST PRO TIP: There are carpenter bees, and there are carpenter wasps, though the wasp version is slightly more general. Carpenter wasps include mud daubers and paper wasps, while carpenter bees are more of a specific type of bee.
Heinous Hornets
One thing many people don't realize is that all hornets are wasps, but not all wasps are hornets.
Neither one has the same kind of furry body that bees have. Hornets can be identified because they are usually significantly bigger than the average wasp, and their colors are duller than wasps.
Their colors may look closer to white and black instead of yellow and black stripes. All three of these stinging bugs have venom, but hornets are known to deliver a more painful sting than their counterparts.
While they are usually not aggressive unless provoked, they are incredibly territorial. If there is a nest on your property, you may be seen as a threat, resulting in some nasty stings. Calling in for pest control is a safe and easy way to reclaim your backyard.
What's Up with Wasps?
Wasps (specifically yellow jackets) are known to be brighter in color, though they are a bit smaller than hornets.
Social wasps, such as yellow jackets and paper wasps, live in large colonies and can be very aggressive in defending their nests. These, too, have no fur on their bodies.
Wasps eat other bugs, which may seem pretty helpful, considering no one wants to have to deal with bugs running around their house. The problem with wasps is that they tend to be more likely to come after you without provocation.
Wasps (unlike hornets) are attracted to sweet, sugary foods and drinks. That's why avoiding wasps while having a picnic outdoors in the summer feels nearly impossible. Because these bugs are also venomous and have the ability to sting you multiple times without dying, it's important to get them removed from your property by a professional pest control company.
Nesting Habits: Your Home Is Their Home!
If you've got a yard, trees, eaves, stairs...you name it! If you've got a house, you are subject to these unwelcome guests. Bees and wasps exhibit a wide range of nesting habits, from complex social colonies to solitary nests. Honey bees, for instance, are social insects that live in large colonies with a single queen and thousands of worker bees.
In contrast, carpenter bees are solitary and prefer to burrow into wood to create their nests, often causing structural damage in the process.
Paper wasps are known for their distinctive paper-like nests, which they build in protected areas such as eaves and attics.
Yellow jackets, another type of social wasp, construct large nests either in the ground or within dense vegetation.
On the other hand, mud daubers are solitary wasps that build mud nests on surfaces like walls and bridges.
The choice of nesting site is influenced by factors such as food availability, shelter, and protection from predators. By understanding these nesting habits, homeowners and pest control professionals like the Pest Nerds at Greenix can develop more effective strategies for preventing and controlling bee and wasp infestations.
Signs of an Infestation
Carpenter Bees: Look for round, smooth holes in wooden structures, as well as sawdust-like shavings near entry points.
Wasps & Hornets: Check for visible nests under eaves, in trees, or hidden within wall voids. Increased wasp activity near food sources is another indicator.
Prevention Tips to Keep Stinging Insects Away
Seal entry points: Caulk cracks and gaps in wood to prevent carpenter bee burrowing.
Use wasp deterrents: Hang decoy nests, as wasps are territorial and avoid areas where other colonies exist. This is especially important if you have a lot of pollen from trees and flowers in your yard.
Maintain outdoor areas: Remove food sources like fallen fruit, open trash cans, and sugary drinks that attract wasps due to their smell.
Treat wood surfaces: Use paint or varnish on wood to make it less appealing to carpenter bees.
Bee Kind: Our Commitment to Pollinators
At Greenix, we love a good pest battle, but when it comes to bees—especially honeybees—we stand down. Why? These little pollinators are crucial to our environment, helping flowers bloom and crops grow. While we're happy to help with wasps and hornets that make your yard feel like a danger zone, we do not remove or harm bees.
If you have a honeybee issue, we recommend reaching out to a local beekeeper or bee rescue organization that can safely relocate the hive without harming the colony. So, if it's buzzing and building instead of buzzing and bothering, we say let the pros with the beekeeping suits handle it!
The Greenix Gang
Our team of experienced exterminators is here to help! We perform carpenter bee treatments, wasp nest removal, and hornet nest removal so that you can enjoy your yard without the fear that comes with having stinging bugs buzzing around you constantly.
Our pest control experts can locate the source of your problem, eliminate it, and help you prevent the problem going forward. These treatments require multiple visits from our experts in order to effectively and responsibly remove carpenter bees, wasps, and hornets from your property. Book your next pest inspection with Greenix today to get started.
