Yellow Jackets – Vespula squamosa

Eastern Yellow Jackets are approximately 1/2 inch long. They have alternating black and yellow stripes and are not as hairy as bees. Their wings are a smoky color. Yellow jackets build nests, usually in the ground or in old tree stumps near the ground. They sometimes build them in walls of buildings or similar places. Yellow Jackets, like most wasps, can sting repeatedly, and will do so when threatened. The females are the only ones with stingers.

Baldfaced Hornets – Dolichovespa maculata

Baldfaced hornets are black and white, heavy-bodied wasps about 1/2 – 3/4 inch long. They usually build exposed, grey nests in trees or shrubs. Occasionally, they will build nests under roof overhangs, in attics, crawlspaces and wall voids, or under decks or porches. The nests are constructed of a paper-like material formed from chewed wood, and may exceed the size of a basketball. These hornets are extremely quick-moving and wary. The top row consists of sterile females – worker hornets.

Killer Bees – mellifera scutellata

The general appearance of Killer Bees (Africanized Bees) is the same as common Honey Bees, but there are some distinctive physical differences between the two. To analyze the differences, a laboratory has to measure and compare some 20 different structures. Another way to check is to analyze the specimen’s DNA and enzymes. In 1956, some colonies of African Honey Bees were imported into Brazil, with the idea of cross-breeding them with local populations of Honey Bees to increase honey production. In 1957, twenty-six African queens, along with swarms of European worker bees, escaped from an experimental apiary about l00 miles south of Sao Paulo. These African bee escapees have since formed hybrid populations with European Honey Bees, both feral and from commercial hives. Africanized Honey Bees (Killer Bees) are dangerous because they attack intruders in numbers much greater than European Honey Bees. Since their introduction into Brazil, they have killed some 1,000 humans, with victims receiving ten times as many stings than from the European strain. They react to disturbances ten times faster than European Honey Bees, and will chase a person a quarter of a mile.

Honey Bee – Apis mellifera

Honey Bees are an animal most of us learn about very early on, one way or another. In Summer, many people step on Honey Bees and get stung while walking barefoot on a lawn. Honey Bees are usually very gentle creatures who mind their own business. They are too busy to worry about people or other animals. Honey Bees are normally about 3/4 of an inch long. Most bees are workers, which are female, but some are male, called “drones.” Workers are slightly smaller than drones. All Honey Bees are reddish brown and black, with orangish-yellow rings on the abdomen (back part of body). The head, antennae, and legs are black. Honey Bees have thick, pale hair on the thorax (middle part of body).