Critters in the News
- "Wild Pigs are becoming
larger and more
aggressive"-
DISCOVERY CHANNEL - "House Fire in
Altemonte Springs
caused by squirrels"-
ORLANDO SENTINEL - "Raccoons attack
woman in Lakeland"-
TAMPA SUN TIMES - "Rats overrun Orlando
International Airport
despite efforts to
erradicate them"-
LAKE MARY REPORTER - "New Orleans 2 Year Old
dies from blood loss
caused by rat bites"-
PCT MAGAZINE
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Bees and Wasps
In Florida, there are four main groups of bees, all of which are very common. In fact, it's not unlikely to find all four buzzing around
the same property. These bees are:
There are also three groups of wasps found in Florida. Though it is not as common to find them all in such close proximity to
one another, each of these types of wasp is common to the area:
Habitat
Bees and wasps are typically found in wooded areas. Trees generally provide any type of bee or wasp with a comfortable home.
High branches provide safe, out-of-reach locations for honey or bumblebee or paper wasp nests, holes in trunks also provide
cover for bees or wasps that prefer darker, tucked-in areas. The abundance of dead trees and hollow logs also provide the low-
dwelling bees and wasps plenty of opportunity.
In an urban setting, trees still make for a large amount of bee and wasp habitat. More precariously, however, are crawlspace,
attic, wall and soffit voids. Mud daubers will attach themselves to walls, fences, doors, sheds, anything with a flat surface about
eight to ten feet high. In the case of digger bees and wasps, sandy lawns are wide open home areas.
Food Habits
All the bees of Central Florida feed solely on pollen and nectar, keeping flowers pollinated and, in the case of honeybees, create
plenty of natural honey. Wasps, however, range from predatory hunters that feed on smaller insects, to parasites that devour the
creature the wasp larvae had been hosted in, to nectar-eaters like their bee relatives.
Reproduction and Development
In social species, the bee and wasp reproduction cycle is fairly similar. The main differences being: before mating with a queen
bee, worker bees perform a mating flight and during the autumn months, most wasps die out with the exception of the queen(s)
while bees go into hibernation. Bee eggs are then typically laid in the winter, while wasp queens lay their eggs in the spring. By
the summer, both species have a full sized hive, reaching up to 80,000 in honeybee hives.
Wasp queens typically die each year, leaving the new queen to develop a new hive on her own every year. Queen bees, on the
other hand, can survive three to four years before a new queen takes over.
Foraging Behavior
Most Central Florida bees and wasps are diurnal, and can be found outside anywhere with an abundance of flowers. Even
predatory wasps will typically inhabit floral areas because of the amount of prey. These flowers can include flowers from the
ground, gardens, bushes, and window-boxes that bees and wasps will bounce back and forth in order to collect pollen and
nectar.
Bee and Wasp Senses
Signs of Bee Infestation
Diseases
Bees and wasps are not typically vectors of disease but are, of course, stinging insects. Bee and wasp venom is transferred
through the stinger of the insect and into the body of the offending creature. Honeybees, specifically, have evolved stingers with
barbs on them to make them more difficult to remove from the skin. The rest of bee and wasp species have smooth stingers
that can be easily removed, after depositing its venom.
The venom of each species is different and could cause different reactions. So it is important to note that, if you've been stung by
a bee or wasp before and have had little-to-no reaction, that doesn't mean that the reaction will be the same if you're stung by
another species.
In Florida, there are four main groups of bees, all of which are very common. In fact, it's not unlikely to find all four buzzing around
the same property. These bees are:
- Honeybees (European or African) – European honeybees are the most common of bees found in Florida. They're
collected and bred for beeswax and honey, and found quite readily in the wild. African honeybees, however, are not
prolific makers of wax and honey and far more aggressive than their European counterparts. As an example, if a hive is
considered in danger, European honeybees will send out up to a third of their hive to protect it, as opposed to African
honeybees which will send out two-thirds or more. - Bumblebees – Like honeybees, bumblebees are known for pollination and nectar-eating, but they do not create the
honey byproduct. They tend to be larger and less social than honeybees as well, and covered in thick fur over the
majority of their bodies. - Carpenter bees – Carpenter bees are distinguished because of their large size and love for wood. It's not uncommon to
find trees or wooden fascia or siding littered with carpenter bee holes (called galleries) that are nearly the size of a dime.
Though solitary, many carpenter bees will share a single piece of wood, so long as their galleries are not connected. - Digger bees – Typically the largest type of bee found in Florida, digger bees are solitary, unaggressive, ground-dwellers.
They are low flyers with relatively shorter wings than other bees, a furry thorax and a protruding face.
There are also three groups of wasps found in Florida. Though it is not as common to find them all in such close proximity to
one another, each of these types of wasp is common to the area:
- Mud-dauber wasps – Mud daubers are very common in urban Central Florida and can be found all over the sides of
homes, businesses, sheds, walls and fences everywhere. These wasps are typically large, black and yellow,
unaggressive, solitary, and they go about making their nests out of mud. - Paper wasps – Paper wasps can be found all over Central Florida. Some species tend to make their nests above
ground in trees, where others prefer fallen trees, hollow logs or holes in the ground. They use bits of dry wood and saliva
to put together nests of grey paper-like material that can house thousands of wasps given time to grow. Paper wasps
typically will not attack unless their nest is threatened. - Yellow-jackets – The most aggressive and easily distinguishable wasp is the yellow jacket. They vary in size from the
size of a honeybee to nearly an inch long. As a matter of fact, larger yellow-jackets are commonly misidentified as
hornets in Central Florida. Yellow-jackets are typically black with bright yellow stripes wrapped around the abdomen.
Habitat
Bees and wasps are typically found in wooded areas. Trees generally provide any type of bee or wasp with a comfortable home.
High branches provide safe, out-of-reach locations for honey or bumblebee or paper wasp nests, holes in trunks also provide
cover for bees or wasps that prefer darker, tucked-in areas. The abundance of dead trees and hollow logs also provide the low-
dwelling bees and wasps plenty of opportunity.
In an urban setting, trees still make for a large amount of bee and wasp habitat. More precariously, however, are crawlspace,
attic, wall and soffit voids. Mud daubers will attach themselves to walls, fences, doors, sheds, anything with a flat surface about
eight to ten feet high. In the case of digger bees and wasps, sandy lawns are wide open home areas.
Food Habits
All the bees of Central Florida feed solely on pollen and nectar, keeping flowers pollinated and, in the case of honeybees, create
plenty of natural honey. Wasps, however, range from predatory hunters that feed on smaller insects, to parasites that devour the
creature the wasp larvae had been hosted in, to nectar-eaters like their bee relatives.
Reproduction and Development
In social species, the bee and wasp reproduction cycle is fairly similar. The main differences being: before mating with a queen
bee, worker bees perform a mating flight and during the autumn months, most wasps die out with the exception of the queen(s)
while bees go into hibernation. Bee eggs are then typically laid in the winter, while wasp queens lay their eggs in the spring. By
the summer, both species have a full sized hive, reaching up to 80,000 in honeybee hives.
Wasp queens typically die each year, leaving the new queen to develop a new hive on her own every year. Queen bees, on the
other hand, can survive three to four years before a new queen takes over.
Foraging Behavior
Most Central Florida bees and wasps are diurnal, and can be found outside anywhere with an abundance of flowers. Even
predatory wasps will typically inhabit floral areas because of the amount of prey. These flowers can include flowers from the
ground, gardens, bushes, and window-boxes that bees and wasps will bounce back and forth in order to collect pollen and
nectar.
Bee and Wasp Senses
- sight – although bees and wasps, like other insects, have a pair of compound eyes made up of many simple eyes as
well as a few separate, simple eyes, their sight is only sharp for about three feet. - smell – bees and wasps have a strong sense of smell, some tests have proven that wasps have a stronger sense of
smell than blood hounds and could be used to sniff out bombs, drugs, corpses, etc. - hearing – bees and wasps hearing organs are located in the antennae and can sense different frequencies but aren't
typically good for much else. - touch – two types of tactile hairs are found on the antennae of bees and wasps that aid in distinguishing food source
- taste – the same receptors that control the sense of smell typically control taste as well, but focus far more on smell,
making a bee's or wasp's sense of taste far less powerful
Signs of Bee Infestation
- Sound of buzzing in the attic or walls
- Actually seeing swarms of bees
- Smell of honey in attic or walls
- Honey staining on walls or ceiling
Diseases
Bees and wasps are not typically vectors of disease but are, of course, stinging insects. Bee and wasp venom is transferred
through the stinger of the insect and into the body of the offending creature. Honeybees, specifically, have evolved stingers with
barbs on them to make them more difficult to remove from the skin. The rest of bee and wasp species have smooth stingers
that can be easily removed, after depositing its venom.
The venom of each species is different and could cause different reactions. So it is important to note that, if you've been stung by
a bee or wasp before and have had little-to-no reaction, that doesn't mean that the reaction will be the same if you're stung by
another species.
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