Nectar for energy and pollen for protein. Larvae are fed pollen and nectar (honey bees also feed royal jelly to young larvae). Bees do not eat meat or human food, which is a quick way to tell them from yellow jackets at a picnic.

Bees vs wasps: how do you tell them apart?

Bees are hairy, stocky and carry pollen; wasps are smooth, shiny and have a narrow 'wasp waist'. Bees visit flowers; wasps also hunt insects and scavenge meat and sugary drinks. Most of the aggressive 'bees' at picnics are actually yellow jackets.

Are yellow jackets bees?

No. Yellow jackets are social wasps. They are often called bees because of their yellow and black colors, but they are hairless, hunt insects and scavenge food.

What are the big black bees around my house?

Usually carpenter bees: large, with a shiny hairless black abdomen, hovering near eaves and decks in spring. Males can't sting.

Bees Around the House: Types of Bees and What They Do

Q: How long do bees live?

It depends on the bee. A honey bee worker lives about 6 weeks in summer and 4–6 months over winter; a queen can live 2–5 years. Bumble bee workers live a few weeks, and only new queens survive winter. Solitary bees like mason bees fly as adults for only 4–6 weeks.

Q: How many eyes do bees have?

Five: two large compound eyes on the sides of the head and three small simple eyes (ocelli) on top, which help with light and orientation.

Bees are hairy, flower-feeding insects that pollinate most of what grows in a yard, and around a US home you'll mostly see honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees and a handful of small solitary bees. Most are harmless unless handled; the real trouble cases are a honey bee swarm moving into a wall, bumble bees nesting by a door, or carpenter bees drilling the deck.

Types of bees you'll see around a house

The US has about 4,000 native bee species. The honey bee is not one of them: it was brought from Europe by colonists. Here are the ones homeowners actually run into.

Five common US bees on flowers: honey bee, bumble bee, carpenter bee, metallic green sweat bee and blue mason bee

Honey bees

Golden-brown to dark brown with fuzzy, banded abdomens, about 1/2 inch long. They live in colonies of 20,000–60,000 with one queen and survive winter as a cluster. Most are kept in managed hives, but escaped swarms settle in hollow trees, wall voids, chimneys and attics. A spring swarm hanging from a branch is usually calm and moves on in hours to a few days. A colony that has moved into your wall is a different matter, because honey and wax stay behind and attract pests if the bees are just killed.

Bumble bees

Large (1/2 to 1 inch), round and covered in dense hair with yellow, black and sometimes orange bands. The US has about 49 species. Colonies are small, 50–400 bees, last one season, and nest in the ground, abandoned rodent burrows, under decks, in compost or in attic and wall insulation. Only new queens overwinter. They sting only when the nest is disturbed, but can sting more than once.

Carpenter bees ("wood bees")

Big, with a fuzzy yellow thorax and a shiny, nearly bare black abdomen. Females drill round 1/2-inch holes in bare wood. Males hover in your face but have no stinger. See carpenter bees.

Sweat bees

Small, often metallic green or blue-green, sometimes dark. They are attracted to the salt in sweat and land on arms in summer. Most nest in the ground. Their sting is mild and happens only when pressed against skin.

Mason bees and leafcutter bees

Small solitary bees. Mason bees, including the blue orchard bee, are dark metallic blue; they nest in hollow stems and holes and seal cells with mud. Leafcutters cut neat circles out of rose leaves. Both are gentle and great pollinators; gardeners buy nest blocks for them.

Ground bees

Mining bees and other solitary bees nest in bare, sandy soil and make small dirt mounds in early spring lawns. Hundreds can nest in one patch but each female has her own hole. See ground bees.

"Black bees" and "blue bees"

People searching for black bees usually have carpenter bees, black bumble bee species, or small carpenter bees (Ceratina). Blue bees are typically mason bees or metallic sweat bees.

Bees vs wasps

Hairy honey bee next to a smooth, narrow-waisted yellow jacket on a picnic table — Bees are hairy and stocky; yellow jackets are smooth, shiny and wasp-waisted.

	Bees	Wasps (incl. yellow jackets, hornets)
Body	hairy, stocky	smooth, shiny, narrow waist
Legs in flight	held up, often thick with pollen	long legs dangling (paper wasps)
Food	nectar and pollen only	insects, meat, sweet drinks, fruit
At picnics	rare	constant in late summer
Sting	honey bee workers die after one sting	can sting repeatedly
Nest	wax combs, ground holes, wood tunnels	paper nests, aerial or underground

The common mix-up is the yellow jacket bee: yellow jackets are wasps, not bees. If a yellow-and-black insect is crawling into your soda or circling your hamburger, it is a yellow jacket. More on wasps in our wasps guide, and for big ones see hornets.

Bee biology in brief

What do bees eat? Nectar (sugars) and pollen (protein, fat). Larvae are fed pollen and nectar; honey bees feed young larvae a gland secretion called royal jelly.

How long do bees live? A summer honey bee worker lives about 6 weeks and literally wears out her wings foraging. Winter workers live 4–6 months. Queens live 2–5 years. Bumble bee workers live a few weeks; solitary bees fly for about a month.

How many eyes do bees have? Five. Two compound eyes see colors including ultraviolet (but not red), and three ocelli on the top of the head sense light intensity.

Only females sting. The stinger is a modified egg-laying tube. Male bees (drones) can't sting at all.

When bees become a problem

Swarm on a branch or fence: leave it alone and call a local beekeeper; many remove swarms free or cheaply. Most move on within 1–3 days.
Bees going in and out of a wall, soffit or chimney: likely an established honey bee colony. Get a live removal by a beekeeper or bee-removal company; expect roughly $300–$1,500 depending on access and how much wall must be opened (approximate). Don't just spray; dead bees, melting wax and fermenting honey cause odors, stains and secondary pests.
Bumble bees nesting by a door or under a deck: if possible, wait it out; the colony dies in fall. Otherwise see how to get rid of bees.
Carpenter bee holes: see carpenter bees.
Someone with a known sting allergy at home: treat any nest near the house as urgent.

Stings

Most bee stings are painful and swell, then settle in a day or two. Honey bees leave a barbed stinger with a venom sac; scrape it out quickly. What to do and when to see a doctor: bee and wasp stings. Call 911 for trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, dizziness or widespread hives.

Protecting bees while protecting your home

Bees are in decline from habitat loss, disease and pesticides. Avoid spraying insecticides on blooming plants, mow flowering weeds before treating a lawn, and use targeted treatments (dust in a hole, bait for wasps) instead of broadcast sprays. Before killing any bee colony, ask whether a beekeeper can remove it.

Bees Around the House