by Native Gemini

Created on: August 17, 2009

Very few people are big fans of bees, wasps or hornets, mainly because of the stinging ability of the insects plus the pain and swelling that come afterward. Each one has redeeming qualities as they provide necessary services to our world often benefiting people. The sting from each of these three flying warriors is very similar, it can really pack a punch, causing pain and swelling or worse but there are also differences between bees, wasps and hornets. Some of these include the function, design, feed habits and the temperament of each.

There are well over 16,000 noted types of bees throughout the world. Honeybees are the most common type of bee and are usually what one thinks of when speaking about bees. In the U.S., recognition of seven different types of honeybee has been recorded. Honeybees have the best attitude of the three and will try to avoid stinging someone. The reason being, honeybees will lose their stinger with just one sting and, also, their life. The only known aggressive type of honeybee come from Africa. Bees are pollinators that fly around gathering pollen, to take back to the hive, from many types of plant life. Trees, flowers, and most all vegetative growth all depend on bees in order to flower or produce a fruit or vegetable. Bees are easy to distinguish from wasps and hornets with their fuzzy bodies and they are very social insects that dwell in hives among an enormous population. They use a complex communication system involving dance and other body language with other in their hive. Bees primarily feed upon the pollen they collect in addition to nectar from the plants and trees they visit.

Wasps and hornets are in the same family, Vespidae, along with yellow jackets and a complete separation between them becomes a little complex. There are actually three classifications of wasps with the first being parasitic wasps followed by solitary hunting wasps and social wasps. Parasitic wasps use their long scary stingers to lay their egg on or in a insect host. When the eggs hatch the host insect is unavoidably killed. Solitary hunting wasps prey upon insects and spiders. The females create little paper cells to raise their young. They position the cells into a nest often attached to eaves or hidden areas, capture prey and position prey into the cell before laying an egg and sealing the cell. Social wasps include the yellow-jacket that establishes new colonies each year which they will leave completely in the fall. They will prey upon insects

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