Too many bees or wasps spell trouble for your home. You should hire home pest control in Atlanta, GA, to protect your family and pets from stinging insects.
It helps to learn more about these flying stingers so that you understand your risks. Here are some fascinating facts about wasps and bees, including a guide to how they differ, and some tips on knowing when to call pest control services or just let them be.
Bee and Wasp Similarities
Both bees and wasps are insects, and are classified in the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants. Insects in this order may have compound eyes, stingers, and wings. Both wasps and bees live in hives that work together for reproduction, building colony structures, and/or food collection. They're both known to be pollinators, or important insects that aid in plant reproduction. Much of the plant kingdom depends on the bees and wasps.
Bee Basics
Bees, specifically honeybees, have different physical bodies than wasps. The average honeybee is about 2.53 cm long. They can range in color from black to brown or orange. Some even have distinctive yellow stripes. Unlike wasps, bees may have hair.
Bees live in enormous colonies, sometimes with more than 75,000 members! Worker bees will build and maintain a hive for their queen, whose sole role is to reproduce. However, the queen in a bee colony is the only reproducing female, so she is understandably well-protected in the colony.
Some types of bees create honey out of plant pollen. Wasps cannot produce honey.
Another well-known feature is their sting. However, bees can only sting once, and will die after stinging.
Wasp Basics
Wasps tend to have long, slender bodies and smooth, shiny exoskeletons. While bees have two wings, wasps have 4. They vary in color, but can have black and yellow stripes just like bees.
Wasps live in smaller colonies than bees. Most have fewer than 10,000 members. Unlike queen bees, queen wasps actually take it upon themselves to build hives for their colony. They often travel alone to build new colonies.
Unlike bees, they can sting multiple times, and for this reason tend to be more aggressive than bees.
Bee and Wasp Control
It's important to protect your family from bee and wasp stings. If bees form large colonies on your property, you may be stung if you approach them. Contact pest control to determine if they pose a risk or can be left alone.
Unlike bees, wasps can form small nests or colonies on your porch or even directly above a doorway. This puts you at high risk of being stung. Pest control companies can eliminate wasp nests and even help you deter them.
If you need home pest control in Atlanta, GA, for wasps or bees, start with Inspect All Atlanta for a low pest control cost and reliable services.