Order: Hymenoptera (Ants, Wasps, and Bees)
True stinging insects belong to the order Hymenoptera, which includes ants, bees, and wasps. So-called stings from other insects or venomous spiders are actually bites. The sting is a defense weapon formed from a modified ovipositor; thus only females sting.

Bees are valuable for pollination or honey production and wasps and hornets kill many yard pests. However, they may become pests when nesting in or around buildings. Carpenter bees can damage wooden siding. Solitary wasps, such as cicada killers, can damage lawns and occasionally sting. However, the social wasps, particularly hornets and yellow jackets, are the most harmful. They often scavenge for human food and cause allergic reactions or death by stinging people. Yellow jackets, hornets, and wasps are hunters and scavengers, and their stings may become infected. If you are stung, wash the site, disinfect it, and apply meat tenderizer, baking soda, or Benadryl (very effective) to the sting area. If not treated promptly, honeybee and yellow jacket stings may swell and itch for a week or two.

Family: Vespidae (Yellow Jackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets)

• Yellow Jackets—There are five species of yellow jackets in New England. They are very aggressive members of the wasp family. Nests will grow to several thousand insects. Nests are gray paper up to a foot in diameter and are made of chewed up wood fiber. Nests can be located in bushes and trees, underground, under leaves, in chimneys, attics, basements, or in ceiling or wall voids. It is common for large nests in the house to dissolve the wallboard and suddenly discharge hundreds of yellow jackets inside your home. These nests should be treated immediately after discovery.

• Umbrella or Paper Wasps—Workers are ¾” to 1” long and come in many colors: black, reddish brown, brown, or yellow and brown, similar to a yellow jacket. A nest has many queens, but one queen is dominant. If the dominant queen is killed, another will take over. For this reason, wasps are difficult to completely control.

  Nests range from 10 to several hundred insects and are located behind shutters, under eaves and fascia boards, in chimneys and attics, or in any other warm sheltered space like barbecues and playground equipment. Your home may contain 10 to 50 small nests, making control more difficult. Wasps will reuse old nests. They should be removed if possible, and cracks and crevices should be sealed.

• Bald-Faced Hornet—These are large insects, ¾” to 1” long and are black with white markings on the face and body. Nests are gray paper that reach a diameter of 18” and can contain up to 700 workers. The insects seldom enter your house because the nests are always built outside in bushes or trees. The hornets seldom visit barbecues but are very ferocious if their nest is disturbed or vibrated in any way. The sting is very painful, but usually lasts only a short time.

Bees—Capturing a Honeybee Swarm

Family: Apidos (Honeybees, Bumble Bees, and Carpenter Bees)

• Honeybees (Apis mellifera)—It isn't often that you have a problem with honeybees, but when you do, it can be a major problem. The three situations you will most likely encounter are bee swarms, bees in your house, or a bee tree. A honeybee colony contains 20,000 to 80,000 bees, and all but a very few pack a potent sting.

  The most serious problem is when the bees establish their nest in your house. The space between your walls or in an enclosed soffit is an ideal nesting space. Simple extermination is not an option since the hive and honey must be removed if at all possible. Leaving honey in your walls will attract carpenter ants, cockroaches, and other vermin. Frequently, honey will also ooze through cracks, light fixtures, or baseboards—not a pleasant sight.

  The presence of a honeybee hive is evident if a lot of activity is suddenly noticed swarming about a portion of your house, a bush, or a hollow in a tree. In any case, a lot of activity prior to mid-July usually indicates honeybees, since wasp and hornet nests are not populous enough to be noticed then. If you suddenly notice a dark mass clustered on the side of your house or in a tree or bush, it is probably a swarm of about 20,000 honeybees. A bee swarm usually occurs from mid-April to mid-July. The swarm may be resting temporarily on a bush or tree in preparation for moving to their permanent home. The swarm should be removed immediately to prevent them from settling in someone's house, especially yours.

• Bumblebees (Bombus spp.)—Most people recognize a bumblebee by its fuzzy yellow and black body, which is about 3/8” in diameter and ¾” long. Quite often, bumblebees are mistaken for queen bees. A nest may contain several hundred workers and are never in plain sight or in the open. Bumblebees will nest in the ground and require insulation to keep the nest warm. They will bring in grass clippings to insulate their nest. A mouse nest is a favorite spot because the mouse has already insulated the home. I have often found a dried up mouse in a bumblebee nest. Another favorite spot is in the insulated walls of your home. If not treated, the bees will come into the house when the cold weather arrives. Beeline activity is an indicator of a nest site, as well as bees entering a hole or crack in your foundation siding. If left untreated, a nest will produce dozens of queens, which leave the nest to hibernate over the winter and start their own nests in the spring.

• Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa spp.)—Carpenter bees look like black bumblebees. They often hover in space like a helicopter does. Nests are tunnels drilled into the wood of your house. The bees don't eat wood; they just make tunnels to rear the young. Dozens hibernate in the tunnels over the winter and spread to other parts of the house in the spring. They like to colonize, and if left untreated, will produce noticeable damage. Locate the nests by observing the hovering insects near the roof of the house or around the deck. The nests may also be discovered by the presence of sawdust or by an ugly yellowish brown stain near the nest. The nest entrance is a neat 3/8” diameter hole. Most often, the hole is not visible, but if you notice the stain beneath a fascia board or on your windows, the nest is above it somewhere.

Family: Specidae and Apidos

• Solitary Bees and Wasps—These insects consist of mud daubers, digger wasps, cicada killers, and alkali bees. The mud daubers stick their small mud nests on the protected walls of your house or attic. They rarely sting, and the nests may be knocked down or washed away with a garden hose. The other insects in this group nest in the ground, and although solitary, they do colonize. Several hundred holes may be located in a small area. Each starts out with a single queen. The nests are multiple chambers underground in which the young are produced. Larvae can lie dormant over the winter, pupate, and emerge in the spring or summer as adults. The most troublesome bees, to name a few, are the alkali bees, golden digger wasps, and cicada killers. The presence of many bees hovering over the ground or the presence of dirt mounds with a hole in the middle indicates that nesting is going on.

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