Honey bee

How to recognise it

These are the features that identify a honey bee. Each one is described in words so the identification works without the diagram.

1. Body is densely covered in fine hairs, giving a fuzzy appearance, and the colouring is muted golden-brown to amber with darker bands rather than bright yellow.
2. Broader and less sharply waisted than a wasp, 12 to 15 mm.
3. Hind legs are broad and flattened and often carry visible packed pollen.
4. Barbed sting, so a honey bee stings once and leaves the sting in place; wasps do not.

What it leaves behind

• A swarm — a dense hanging cluster of thousands of bees on a branch, fence, or wall — which is a temporary, generally docile stage while the colony seeks a new home.
• An established colony inside a wall or chimney, indicated by steady two-way traffic at a single gap and sometimes by wax or honey staining.

Why an infestation persists

Honey bees are pollinators of substantial agricultural importance and are not a pest species. A swarm is usually temporary and often moves on within a day or two. A colony established inside a structure is a different matter and needs removal of the comb as well as the bees, because abandoned comb and honey attract other pests and can damage the building. Many areas have beekeepers who collect swarms at no cost, and killing a colony inside a wall without removing the comb reliably causes a secondary problem.

Where it occurs

Throughout the United States, both managed and feral.

Where to look for it

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• Chimneys and flues, which are a classic cavity for a feral colony.
• Wall voids above a warm room, where wax may eventually show as a stain on interior plaster.
• Water sources — bees at a pool edge or dripping tap are foraging, not nesting, and need no response.

When you see it, and why

Swarming happens mainly in spring and early summer, when a colony divides and the departing half clusters temporarily while scouts look for a cavity. That cluster usually moves on within a day or two entirely on its own, which is the single most useful thing to know: a swarm on a branch very often needs nothing but patience. An established colony inside a structure is a year-round situation and a different problem.

What getting the identification wrong costs you

Killing a honey bee colony in mistake for wasps is the error this page exists to prevent, and it has a second cost beyond the pollinators: a colony destroyed inside a wall leaves comb and honey behind, which ferments, stains through plaster, and draws other pests — frequently a larger problem than the bees were. The fuzzy body and the absence of interest in your food distinguish a honey bee from a yellowjacket at a glance.

What a professional actually does

The right call is a beekeeper or a live-removal specialist, not a pest treatment. Many areas have beekeepers who collect swarms at no cost. For a colony inside a structure, proper removal means opening the cavity, taking out the comb and honey as well as the bees, and sealing the entrance afterwards — ask explicitly whether comb removal is included, because a removal that leaves it creates the secondary problem described above.