Honeybees VS Yellowjackets

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One of the first questions we are typically asked by our prospective clients when discussing setting up a hive on their property is, “will the the Bees bother me?”. The simple answer is an emphatic “No”. Now certainly the location of a hive is carefully taken into consideration and typically positioned in an area that is not adjacent to high traffic or high use or play areas.

While the Bay Area serves as prime habitat for honeybees (pictured above), it unfortunately also serves as prime habitat for yellowjackets (pictured below). No regions are immune to this aggressive backyard pest and unfortunately they are often mis-identified as “bees”.

We are here to set the record straight, honeybees and yellowjackets are very different from one another and given the right information to look for, are actually quite easy to differentiate from one another.

Take a close look at the picture below and then read a few facts about how they differ from one another:


Honeybees and yellowjackets are distinctly different in color with yellowjackets having a more primary yellow coloration to the honeybee’s orangish/amber/brown.

Honeybees have a lightly fuzzy / hairy look to their bodies while yellowjackets have an almost glossy / waxy hairless look to their bodies.

Honeybees are pollinators and collect pollen within the hairs on their legs, yellowjackets do not have these hairs and are rarely seen with collections of pollen on their legs.

Honeybees eat nectar and are often found hovering around and pollinating flowers, yellowjackets are predatory (meat eaters), and while not attacking normal prey, can be distinctly found hovering around picnic tables and BBQs.

A honeybee’s flight pattern can be characterized as almost smooth in appearance, while a yellowjacket can be very fast with a rapid side to side movement prior to landing.

Honeybees have glands that can produce wax for construction of their honeycomb, yellowjackets do not have these wax producing glands.

Now that you are in the know, we’re sure you won’t mistake Yellowjackets for Honeybees. Should you have a stubborn persistent problem with yellowjackets in and around your yard there are several helpful resources that can inform you on how to eliminate and or mange these pests. Start with your local County Vector Control:

http://www.contracostamosquito.com/yellowjackets.htm

Hive Down

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Well we can’t say this is how we wanted to start our BLOG but it does in many respects highlight the difficulties that local (and cross country) bee keepers / ranchers are having. Over the past few years, there has been a great deal of focus on what many experts are calling Colony collapse disorder. What it is exactly and how it strikes our friendly Honeybees has yet to be pinned down. All the experts know is that there has been a significant decline in healthy honeybee colonies across the nation (and parts of Europe).

As for the pics above and below, an unfortunate sight. One of our favorite backyard colonies – dead. Definitely not Colony collapse disorder but the effects of Varroa destructor – mites. This past Fall, we confirmed that several of our fellow bee keepers around the East Bay got hit pretty hard by mites. Something we all watch for. It is preventable but not always caught in time.

The intent of the Bee Rancher BUZZ BLOG is to provide and share information and news – both the good, and the bad (as in this case) to our clients and fellow Honeybee lovers all over the Bay Area. As they say, information is power and hopefully we can channel some of that power toward helping our local Honeybee populations.

Are you a San Francisco Bay Area beekeeper? Did you have difficulties with mites this past year (2011)? If so we’d like to hear about it and how you are dealing with them.