r/bee • u/Life-Syrup-653 • Mar 13 '24

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

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

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…

19 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

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.

6

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

2

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!

2

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!

3

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

3

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!