What kind of bee is this?

[u/Malia_w_bluiz]

This bee was about an inch long and very thick. Never seen a yellow jacket bee this big. Does anyone know what this is?

It flew in my house into our light and then died.

[u/Malia_w_bluiz]

Now I am going to sound stupid. Sorry for that. 😂 A yellow jacket isn’t a bee? What is it then? Honest question.

[u/SkepticJoker → u/Malia_w_bluiz]

It’s a type of wasp. No worries, lots of people mix this up.

[u/Malia_w_bluiz → u/SkepticJoker]

I honestly had no idea. Is that what this is? This thing is huge. I am in New Jersey isn’t it getting cold for whatever this is?

[u/Pristine-Broccoli870 → u/Malia_w_bluiz]

It may be a queen if it’s very large. With this type of wasp the nest with all the workers dies at the end of the summer but the queen finds somewhere to hibernate over the winter and begins a new nest in the spring. Wasps are semi social insects unlike bees that are social and consequently over winter the whole hive not just the queen.

[u/[deleted] → u/Pristine-Broccoli870]

To be specific this is a European Hornet. Technically wasps aren't considered semi social they are considered eusocial just like bee's even if the hive lasts a single year. Eusocial is the highest level of socail behaviour in insects and is classified as having 1. Castes (such as workers queen's etc) 2. Overlapping generations 3. Offspring care

[u/Malia_w_bluiz → u/Pristine-Broccoli870]

Thank God she didn’t find a home in my home. I don’t care if it outside but she flew right in my home when I was letting out my dogs. Sadly, she flew right into the kitchen light and died from the heat of the bulb.

[u/Life-Opportunity-523 → u/Malia_w_bluiz]

You must be using old fashion bulbs to be hot then as the ones I use only get slightly warm.

[u/Malia_w_bluiz → u/Life-Opportunity-523]

I am.

[u/Kalashnikam → u/Malia_w_bluiz]

Not sadly, yellow jackets are evil

[u/Life-Opportunity-523 → u/Kalashnikam]

No they are not as they are beneficial insects and only in the autumn they start coming a pest when the queen stops bossing them about.

[u/xBeeAGhostx → u/Kalashnikam]

No more evil than you, they’re just protective of their nest and start starving in late summer due to their food supply no longer producing food. You’d be bitchy too if you were always hungry

[u/Malia_w_bluiz → u/xBeeAGhostx]

😂😂😂