Jun 24, 2021
Beauty is in the eye of the bee-holder
Find beauty in the bees, instead of fear. There’s a lot to love once you get to know the species that are supporting our ecosystems.
Are you afraid of bees? You’re not alone. Many people experience panic or distress in the presence of bees — known as melissophobia or apiphobia. It’s normal to feel a little apprehension around bees — nobody wants to be stung — but coexisting with our bee neighbors is easier once you get to know them.
Most bees want to bee on their way and enjoy their day, just like we do. Yes of course, some sting, but the vast majority of bees do not! Knowledge is power, and knowing more about bees can help us break down our fears and even become bee advocates.
Don’t sweat these
These bees are the bee’s knees; our hard worker bees and pollinating pals. If left unbothered, these bees will steer clear of you while taking good care to pollinate your vegetable garden, agricultural fields, and wildflowers. Bees are often robust and hairy for collecting pollen. Bee cool and calm if a bee approaches you! Bee sure not to swat and keep a respectable distance to allow these bees to buzz on.
Carpenter bees
- Loud buzz and intimidating size, but harmless
- Lives in your wooden fence and may chew on your house
- Still pollinates your flowers and garden veggies
Bumblebees
- Similar to a carpenter bee, but bigger and fuzzier
- Most efficient pollinator in your town and lives near the ground
- Sweet disposition but only social in small groups
Solitary bees
- Very chill and prefers living alone
- Males don’t sting and females sting only when stepped on, swatted at, or threatened — so don’t do those things
Honeybees
- Introduced to North America and avid pollinators
- Very social, creates honey, hard worker and often hired by farmers who rent hives
- Not stinging you is their highest priority, since they can only sting once and will die shortly after
Hoverfly
- Looks like a bee, flies like a bee, pollinates like a bee, not actually a bee
- May hover around flowers or you if you smell good
- Can’t hurt you!
Looks like a bee
Bees often get a bad wrap from wasps, which are genetically related but in a whole different family. Wasps may seem scary, but they have an important role too. Many eat bugs and pests that destroy agricultural crops and pollinate some crops like macadamia nuts, mangos, and sesame.
While they share some characteristics with bees, wasps have a narrow waist with long, slender bodies and are often hairless, or have miniscule hairs.
Yellowjacket
- No fuzz and no fun, bold black and yellow stripes, sassy
- Will commonly nest underground, but also in trees or shrubs
- Persistently search for foods high in sugars, like fruits and pop
Paper wasp
- Builds a nest of paper-like plant material
- Helps control agricultural pests and often brightly colored
- May become aggressive to defend their nest, but generally docile otherwise
European hornet
- Segmented brown body black and yellow stripes, larger than a wasp
- Can sting multiple times if threatened, but thankfully nest high above the ground and avoid conflict
Bees that need our help
Many bees are in decline, but every small effort to help makes a difference to a host of bee species, birds, and butterflies! Planting flowering plants native to your area can provide food, host plants, and habitat to a variety of species and reducing pesticide use can help protect these vital pollinator resources. Click here for more ways to help.
Yellow-banded bumblebee
- Pollinator of blueberries, cranberries, and potatoes
- Able to regulate its body temperature during cold weather and can adapt to a queenless nest!
- Struggling from habitat loss, disease, and pesticide use
American bumblebee
- Was once the most prevalent bumblebee in the southern United States, but now needs our help
- Lives in open fields and farmlands
- Favorite foods include clovers and sunflowers
Lemon cuckoo bumblebee
- With a tart personality to match its name, cuckoo bumblebees invades colonies of other bumblebees and takes over!
- A lover of asters, thistles, snakeroots, blazing-stars, mountain-mints and goldenrod flowers
Rusty-patched bumblebee
- Has declined 87% in the last 20 years
- One of the first bees to emerge in early spring and one of the last to go into hibernation, and needs nectar plants the entire season!
- Needs a wide variety of flowering plants, and prefers goldenrods, asters, coneflowers, sunflowers and turtleheads
