The difference between bees and wasps

To protect myself from an allergic reaction to bee venom, I carry an Epipen at all times for a self-administered dose of epinephrine if necessary.  I arrange my garden pathways to minimize contact with plants and bees, and I organize my garden schedule to avoid the special bee hazards of early fall.

Apis mellifera

Actually, it was a mistake to blame this scary event on bees (Apis mellifera). The actual culprits were yellow jackets (Vespula vulgaris), more properly identified as wasps, not bees.  We lump the two species together because they share some common characteristics.  

Both species live communally; both species are organized around a queen; member of both species are similarly colored, yellow and black/brown.  

Vespula vulgaris

In several ways, the two species are quite different.  Bees only seek food in flowers.  Yellow jackets, on the other hand, forage for sweet sap and carrion as well as flower nectar.  They become pests at picnics because they find hamburger, soft drinks and discarded pieces of peach attractive as food.

Both wasps and bees inject venom through their stingers.  Because of its barbed stinger, a honeybee stings only once, then dies.  A yellow jacket has no barb, so a wasp can sting repeatedly.  In addition, if their nest is disturbed, yellow jackets will attack, even swarm, an intruder.  Honeybees are much less aggressive. 

While honeybees over-winter in their hives, yellow jackets die off each year.  Only a fertilized queen wasp survives the winter.  Yellow jacket hive-membership reaches its peak in September.  Overcrowding and a diminishing food supply make for anxious and easily angered insects.  To be safe, I make few visits to my garden between early September and first frost in mid-October.