How to Tell a Wasp From a Bee

Look at the hair first. Many bees wear a coat of branched hair that grabs pollen grains. Wasps have few or none of those hairs, so they look smooth and polished, according to Cornell IPM's bee and wasp identification page.

Then check the shape. Wasps have a narrow waist between the chest and the abdomen, and paper wasps let their long legs dangle when they fly. Bees look thicker through the middle, and honey bees and bumble bees often carry clumps of pollen on their back legs.

Food sets them apart too. Bees feed on nectar and pollen from flowers. Wasps prey on other insects and spiders, and some scavenge for their meals. Living alone or in a colony doesn't help you sort them, because both groups have solitary and social species.

Wasp vs Bee Look-Alikes in DFW

Four pairs of look-alikes are common around DFW homes. This table shows what separates each pair and how likely each insect is to sting.

Look-alike pair How to tell them apart Sting risk
Honey bee vs yellowjacket Fuzzy and golden brown vs smooth, shiny, bright yellow and black Yellowjackets sting more, near the nest or food
Bumble bee vs carpenter bee Hairy abdomen with yellow bands vs a bare, shiny black abdomen High at a bumble bee nest, low for carpenter bees
Paper wasp vs honey bee Slim body and dangling legs vs a fuzzy, compact body Paper wasps sting when the nest is disturbed
Hover fly vs bee or wasp Two wings, huge eyes and a midair hover vs four wings None, since hover flies have no stinger

Wasp vs Bee Stings

A honey bee's stinger has barbs that hook into skin, so it tears loose and the bee dies. The stinger keeps pumping venom and gives off an alarm scent that draws other bees, so scrape it out right away with a fingernail or the edge of a card. Wasps, bumble bees and carpenter bees can pull their stingers back out and sting more than once.

Wasps defend in their own ways. Paper wasps often fly into a person who gets too close to the nest as a warning before they sting. Yellowjackets release an alarm pheromone when crushed, which calls other workers, so swatting one near its nest can bring more. Cornell IPM notes that a yellowjacket colony can reach 5,000 workers or more by late summer.

Venom from either group can cause a serious allergic reaction in some people. Trouble breathing, swelling in the face or throat, or dizziness after a sting needs emergency care right away.

Wasp Nests vs Bee Hives

The nest is often the easiest clue, since you can study it from a distance. Paper wasps build an open, umbrella-shaped comb under eaves, porch ceilings and fence rails, with the cells in plain view. Yellowjackets build a closed paper nest, usually in the ground or inside a wall, with one entrance hole and a steady stream of traffic.

Bees build with wax instead of paper. Honey bees build wax comb inside a hollow tree, a wall void or an attic. Cornell IPM warns that a colony in a wall or attic can become a structural pest. Bumble bees nest in the ground, often in an old rodent burrow or under thick grass. Carpenter bees chew round holes about half an inch wide into bare wood, with sawdust piled below.

Mud tubes on a wall belong to mud daubers, a group of solitary wasps that rarely sting.

Africanized Honey Bees in Texas

The first Africanized honey bees in the US turned up in south Texas in 1990. By 2006 they had reached 163 of the state's 254 counties, according to the Texas Apiary Inspection Service's Africanized bee guide. They look like European honey bees and carry the same venom, so you can't tell them apart by sight.

The difference is behavior. Africanized bees defend their nest harder, swarm more often and settle for nest sites closer to the ground, including water meter boxes. Vibration from mowers and trimmers, foot traffic and loud noise can set them off. In a DFW yard, check meter boxes and other ground-level boxes before you mow.

If bees start stinging, the guide's advice is to alert others, cover your head and face while keeping your eyes clear, and get into a car or house right away. Don't stop to look for the colony.

Handling a Wasp Nest or Bee Colony

A wasp nest near a door, a play area or a patio usually needs treatment, and new nests can appear in the same spots later. We treat wasp nests any time of day, with no waiting for dusk, as part of our wasp nest treatment across DFW. Homeowners near our Dallas office can book wasp and hornet removal in Dallas the same way.

Honey bees need more care. Don't spray a honey bee colony yourself, and keep kids, pets and mowers away from it. Forterra doesn't move live colonies, so if you'd like the bees moved alive, ask us to refer you to a bee specialist.

A bumble bee nest in a quiet corner of the yard can often stay. Bumble bee colonies last a single season, and the workers die off as the weather cools.

Wasp vs Bee FAQ

Are wasps more aggressive than bees?

Around food, yes. Yellowjackets scavenge for sweets and meat, so they land on drinks and plates, while foraging honey bees and bumble bees mostly ignore people. Near a nest, both groups defend hard, and Africanized honey bees defend more fiercely than European ones.

What's the difference between a wasp, a bee and a hornet?

A hornet is a large kind of wasp, not a separate group. The bald-faced hornet is really a yellowjacket, and it isn't one we see in DFW. Bees branched off from wasps long ago and switched from prey to pollen.

Will a wasp chase you if you run?

A wasp defending its nest may follow you a short way, but it usually gives up once you're clear of the nest. Walk away quickly and don't swat. Africanized honey bees can chase much farther, so head straight for a car or a house.

Do male bees and wasps sting?

No. A stinger is a modified egg-laying tube, so only females have one. Male carpenter bees often hover in your face near their nest holes, but they can't sting at all.

Find out what's nesting by your door before someone walks into it. Send a quote request or give us a call, and a technician will identify it and treat the nest.