Yellow jackets? They seem to sting just for kicks.Īnother sad case of mistaken identity. They can sting, but unless ruthlessly provoke, it’s unlikely. Native bees don’t have a well-developed stinger. Poke the nest? Now you and your extended family will be targeted. Just being in their nest area can warrant a sting. But this is a defining characteristic of yellow jackets. In their territory, you’re a source of confusion rather than a target. Yellow jackets usually have only one or two entrances.
Often, there are many (thousands!) of these entrances in a small area. Yellow jackets generally have a larger hole and don’t usually pile up dirt at the entrance. It piles up at the entrance like a tiny ant mound. Ground-dwelling native bees dig out small piles of dirt to form their homes. There may be many dwellings in one area, but they are usually separate families. Most native bees lay only a few eggs in their dwelling. In fact, many of the differentiating features of native bees require a magnifying glass to detect. At first glance (or any glance), they are easily confused with honeybees. Not all native bees are fuzzy, but those who live underground in large groups tend to be fairly fuzzy and kinda cute. I realize it may be hard to tell them apart in the heat of the moment, but there are some notable differences: Native ground bees are NOT yellow jackets that belong to the wasp family. Sadly, bees coming from the ground can be confused for a very different insect. Living underground can give you a bad rap. By comparison, honeybees are our most social bees, living cooperatively with a division of labor in large colonies. Image by NC Cooperative Extension.Ībout 80% of native bees live underground, sometimes alone (like a hut), often alone but in groups (apartments), and sometimes communally (one large family home). Most of our native bees are solitary or socially-flexible bees where all females lay eggs and raise young, compared to honeybee colonies with just one egg-laying queen. Native bees are fascinating and live very different lives than their honeybee cousins.
#YELLOW JACKET GROUND BEES FULL#
With nature in full bloom this time of year, our native bees are quite literally on parade. The Importance of North Carolina’s Native Bees But the sheer number of them was amazing! Each one of these tiny ant-mound look-alikes is a bee tunnel. They were busy ferrying pollen back to their underground nurseries and took no notice of me. I stumbled upon a huge swath of native miner bees (of the adrenid family) this week. But there is a world of highly valuable pollinators, sometimes just beneath our feet. It’s common for us to assume that similar-looking winged things are all the same. home and do the bulk of the work pollinating our landscapes. So, be on the lookout this time of year for these amazing creatures! Their subterranean habitat might surprise the unsuspecting homeowner - or dog-walker. In spring, our native ground-dwelling bees appear in abundance. How many types of bees can you name? Honeybees, bumblebees, carpenter bees… All correct, but you are just 498 short of naming all of North Carolina’s native bees.
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