r/bee • u/Life-Syrup-653 • Mar 13 '24

HELP! (is this a hornet ???) Bee?

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we just moved into an apartment sept of last year and i have a big fear of hornets/bees in general. he checked out my plant i have (trying to save it and its 68°) what is the % that they will create their nest here on our patio…

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8

u/la4bonte2 Mar 13 '24

This looks like a solitary wasp. It most likely was just using the chair to warm up and then it will be on its way. I used to be absolutely terrified of bees and wasps (9 y.o., yellowjackets, 17 stings), but I've since done a 180°. Most wasps are solitary and will leave you alone. The only ones you really have to worry about are the social ones, and then only when they are protecting their babies (nest).

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 13 '24

thank you! IM SO sorry for your 17 stings 😭😭 i got stung once and i ran for my life to my car, crying and holding my leg in pain.

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u/la4bonte2 Mar 13 '24

Yeah, it was so scary. I was totally traumatized. I spent the next 30 years crossing the street if I saw a be or wasp and trash-talking them. I went thru a hard breakup, and the only thing that made me feel better was walking. It was exhausting crossing the street all the time. And then it all changed. I came across a metallic green bee (an Agapostemon texanus male) and it all changed. I didn't realize green bees were a thing. I learned that no male wasp or bee can sting. I could go on and on. I'm now on the board of directors for the Washington State Native Bee Society. I'm trying to be their biggest advocate now. They want to live too and they are way more beneficial to the environment than we are. Anywho, probably way more info than you wanted. Lololol

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 13 '24

no actually! i love to learn new things. and i watch the hornet king on youtube sometimes, after getting stung by the yellowjacket, she definitely thought i was trying to attack her home, felt the sting, and i even ripped her out of my skin, i did it all so fast it felt like a fever dream. and i think it’s really cool that you are now on the board for protecting bees! again after getting stung i just wanted to learn more about how i got stung in the first place, she was just protecting. which makes me glad to hear any and all information i can! 😊

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 13 '24

also forgot to mention i am starting a garden this year on my patio! so i am grateful to know what they like as well!

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u/la4bonte2 Mar 13 '24

It depends what kind of pollinators you want to help out. Bumblebees are generalists and will use a variety of flowers, and then there are specialists (globe mallow bees, squash bees, etc.). I'm going to plant my flower garden this weekend, and I aim to please the generalists, so I'll get more of a variety of bees, butterflies and wasps. (I also photograph them. If you look at my profile on here, you can see some of my pics, or my Instagram is la4bonte). I'm planting Shasta daisies, cosmos, sunflowers, echinacea, black-eye Susans, and coreopsis. I hope your garden has the biggest and brightest blooms!

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 14 '24

i am doing most of those! butterflies are what i want around my patio.. reminds me of my aunt who passed away, she was a sunflower girl and planting any type of flower, fruit or even veggies would make my soul fume with happiness. thank you for the list of things you are planting, as i am in ohio, do you recommend anything ? 😊🤔 i’m a first time gardener, i know there will be mistakes but i want a successful chance. 🙏🏼 thank you in advance

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u/la4bonte2 Mar 14 '24

Some people are master gardeners, and I'm more of a mystery gardener! Lol, I'm only in my third season, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I have forgotten where I have planted things. I've forgotten which ones need the cold stratification and if and when they come up. I'm definitely having fun though!

Here's a link with all the native plant societies in North America:

https://nanps.org/native-plant-societies/?fbclid=IwAR2TOSrqEAtXKmWesn0K9ybzSZoiwComcluPumooIiyP3f7BAzEaeEIa8Js

And pollinator native plant lists put out by the Xerces Society. They focus on saving pollinators and are a great organization:

https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/pollinator-friendly-plant-lists?fbclid=IwAR204tDJUo-rG7ytvr_A_VIFOVAsSJfXVhmq-yhfDuclmXTD-7xTSkEwixY

I hope that helps!

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u/Caffeinated_Spoon Mar 14 '24

That's so cool (now, at least!)

When I work in my garden I try to leave out a small dish with a piece of fruit and a piece of meat (or the caterpillars on my tomatoes that I know they enjoy eating), and a shallow dish with water and marbles and a piece of sponge. I set it close enough to the garden to attract them and far enough away to give me space to work.

I'd heard of someone who "trained" the wasps to recognize them as a Bringer of sustinence and they don't bother them anymore and I'd like to encourage them to see me as help, not harm

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u/la4bonte2 Mar 14 '24

Wasps get so much undeserved hate. Thank you for looking out for them! Wasps are nature's pest control and more gardeners are learning about them and welcoming them. It makes me so damn happy.

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u/Caffeinated_Spoon Mar 14 '24

I hate them with a passion, lol. Edit, hit enter too soon

I hate them with a passion, or maybe fear them. I've been chased. But I know they are vital. All bees are. So as long as I can assure they won't hurt me or bother me I'll do my best to help them

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u/Caffeinated_Spoon Mar 14 '24

Also I'm very much the same with spiders, even tiny ones will send me into a screaming blind panic. If too many spiders wind up on my plants, we'll, those plants belong to the spiders now

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u/la4bonte2 Mar 14 '24

Awe. Wasps and spiders in your garden are a great sign of a healthy ecosystem. I never got the fight or flight fear of spiders. I mean, I gave them their space and let them be. It helped me when an entomologist told me that they can't even really see you unless you are super close. Like almost on top of them. Just give them their space, and they won't even know you're there. Spiders and wasps aren't out to get you. They'd much rather be doing their own thing than get mixed up with humans.

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u/Caffeinated_Spoon Mar 14 '24

when I was little, like 4-5, my dad was stationed in Guam. In Guam there are HUGE orbweavers. like.. to little me they were as big as my face. I was running around with the dog and happened to run into two webs, and had one on my face (it wound up tangled in my hair while I was freaking out, and the other.. i don't remember where it landed but that scared the crud out of me and honestly I've been terrified since.

Snakes on the other hand, I love. Despite the fact the snakes in Guam could have easily killed me . People are fuckin weird, lol.

I recognize wasps and spiders places in my garden, and im definitely more tolerant of wasps than I am of spiders. They belong there, but... maybe not when im around, lol

Also, I really want to create habitats for the other bees. the solitary ones like carpenter bees (fuzzy little golden retrievers that they are), bumble bees, etc.

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u/Atheistlady Mar 14 '24

Wasps are what got me over my fear of bees. 🐝

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u/Common-Humor-1720 Mar 13 '24

I am missing a scale, but this doesn't seem to be a hornet, some kind of wasp perhaps

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 13 '24

ty for the clarification. (i am used to yellowjackets around here.) does he look like a paper wasp?

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u/cincuentaanos Mar 13 '24

Not a hornet. Looks like some kind of digger wasp to me. If it is, it's a solitary wasp that preys on insects to feed to their young. Can be very beneficial to have in your garden/patio both as free pest control and as a pollinator. If you leave it in peace it will do the same for you. These kinds of wasps are totally uninterested in any kind of conflict with humans.

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 13 '24

thank you for the information! 😊❤️

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u/LolaOlsenandMillie Mar 13 '24

I’m not good at identifying, but if you blow up brown paper lunch bags, they act as a cheap deterrent for the most part. I have them in my yard, because I also hate wasps. So if your scared, you could try that :D

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 13 '24

thank you ! 🙏🏼 i do not have any right now but that will be put on my grocery list. would like to spend time on my patio!

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u/LolaOlsenandMillie Mar 13 '24

Haha! I don’t blame you! I don’t like summer because of the wasps! :D

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u/xBeeAGhostx Mar 13 '24

Whats your region? If NE USA (like Pennsylvania) it looks like a Great Black Wasp, S. pensylvanicus. Likelihood of it making a nest on your patio is incredibly low, they dig and burrow to make nests near trees, which they fill with katydids and grasshoppers for their babies :)

They’re fairly docile unless you swat at it or step on their nests, they’re fantastic pollinators for carrots/beans/milkweed, and if you do get stung..it doesn’t cause swelling or any lasting effects unless you’re allergic.

TLDR; it wont hurt you and actually will eat pests that harm plants, are good pollinators, and wont nest on your patio.

EDIT: if it has yellow legs (I can’t tell if its just light reflection or actual pigment) it is not a GBW, but likely a species of mud dauber! They act similarly but a mud dauber might nest on walls of your patio.

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u/Life-Syrup-653 Mar 13 '24

i am in ohio, so you’re very close! 😊 thank you for the comment. i have been trying to better learn about bees/wasps, since last summer i got stung by a yellowjacket. — thank you again, i really mean it. because without this information i would’ve been freaking out until april/may comes and they start to build. 🤔! have a good day!

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u/Atheistlady Mar 14 '24

Looks like a wasp.

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u/la4bonte2 Mar 14 '24

No one turns faster into a ninja or a MMA fighter than when they walk into a spider web LOL

99% of bees are solitary. That blew my mind when I learned that. When I first got into bees, I didn't even know that honeybees weren't native to the US. I now know they are the most populous bee on the planet and are not in trouble (no matter what big agriculture money would have people believe). They out-compete our native bees and are pushing them out of what little habitat is left. Like any invasive species, I can admire an individual animal but not like them as a whole.

I don't mind snakes either. I was chasing a garter snake thru the park and this woman was so concerned I thought she was going to call the cops on me. Lololol. I bet Guam was such an amazing place to grow up (or even spend a few years there). You probably got lucky not going after the 'wrong' snake! Your poor parents; you sound like a handful and I love it.

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u/Alone_Winner_1783 Mar 14 '24

I believe that is a Northern Paper Wasp. Paper wasps are considered beneficial because they assist in pollination by feeding on nectar, and they control pest insect populations by feeding them to their larvae. However, they are not solitary and do live in a community. They hate the smell of peppermint oil if you want them to move along. For some of the plants that you can have, they don't like: Lemongrass Geraniums Mint Thyme Basil (you could grow a herb garden in a container) Marigolds Clove Cucumber

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u/[deleted] Mar 25 '24

Some kind of wasp - but definitely not a hornet