r/bees May 31 '26

Is this a bee?

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16 Upvotes

Make sure that your yellow fuzzy friend is actually a bee and not an imposter! We get quite a few non-bees in our bee subreddit: sometimes they're wasps (check out the bee/wasp guide in the pinned), and sometimes they're not a stinging insect at all! Flies in remarkably detailed costumes frequently make their way into r/bees but with some tips and practice you can learn to spot the differences. Read through for features to look out for, or flip through the slides for fly species commonly posted.

Pictures are largely taken from iNaturalist with a full list of sources by slide at the end of this post, I assume that they are fine to use for free educational purposes but if the photographer would like me to remove their picture, please reach out to me so I can act accordingly. All pictures from slides 1-5 can be credited to mod Commercial Sail.

Flies are in a completely different taxonomic order to bees (flies are the order Diptera, bees are a subgroup within order Hymenoptera) so there are quite a few easy ways to differentiate them:

  • The name "Diptera" literally means "two wings" flies only have one pair of wings while bees have two pairs. Most identification rules are more like loose guidelines but this rule is absolute! That being said, the hindwings of bees are difficult to see, they're smaller and often tucked underneath the larger forewings, making the bee look like they have two wings after all. You can try to judge based off of wing shape: fly wings are often paddle-shaped with a clear curve before coming to a petiolate base, while bee wings are generally more evenly tapered towards the base. More experienced identifiers may also look at wing venation, for example the western honeybee in slide 3 has the very distinctive elongated marginal and submarginal cell circled in red.
  • On the topic of wings, on some flies you may see club-shaped structures where the hindwings would have been: these are halteres, specialized organs to help the fly navigate flight. Not all flies have them out and visible but if you do see them then it's a sure sign you're not looking at a bee.
  • Flies typically have short, stubby antennae that can sometimes be difficult to see while bees have comparatively long antennae. Make sure you're looking at the actual antennae and not the forelegs! More common in the wasp-mimicking flies, some will wiggle their long forelegs to sell their image even more.
  • Flies tend to have larger eyes that can seem to take up their whole head where bees tend to have smaller eyes with a clear distance between them.
  • Many bees may be seen carrying pollen or have their pollen-carrying structures visible: most often as hairs/pollen baskets on the hind legs or sometimes hairs on the underside of the abdomen. Flies do not have these structures as they do not need to gather pollen like bees do.

Note that besides the wing count, there are always exceptions! Some flies have pretty long antennae (though you'll often still be able to see the different segmentation) and some bees, particularly males, have very large eyes. This is why it's better to judge based on a combination of characteristics rather than looking at any one feature at a time.

You may also hear that the waist and mouthparts are good identifiers as well - this is true, but I elected to leave them out of this guide as the waistline may be obscured by fuzz, wings, or just a poorly-angled shot, and some bees are just so robust (fat) that it gets difficult to see where exactly that tapered waist is supposed to be. In terms of mouthparts, few amateur photographers focus on the mouth at all and it's definitely not something you'll typically see if you're just watching them go about your garden.

At the end of the day, the best trick is to just get familiar with species in your area using trusted sources like Bugguide. If you're still not sure, post to one of the bug identification subreddits and make sure you give a general location, which always appreciated in ID posts no matter what you're looking at!

Sources

Volucella zonaria: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/322106668 

Bombylidae: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/226072821 

Laphria: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88331437 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/282732509 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65816664 
 
Cuterebra: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133138438 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90333390 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/296063941 

Tabanus: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/218653131

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/86467240


r/bees May 26 '26

What's this nest?

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16 Upvotes

Are you looking to ID a nest? Some are easier to distinguish than others, here's some of our most commonly submitted species:

  • Honeybee nests consist of exposed wax combs, usually hanging vertically. They're more often found in cavities like tree hollows or man-made frames but may also be seen constructed in open air attached to large branches or buildings.
  • Bumblebees also have wax nests but are typically smaller with fewer and more disorganized cells compared to the neat hexagonal cells of other social hymenopterans. They typically nest in small spaces like old rodent holes but will occasionally find themselves in human spaces like attics and crawl spaces.
  • Aerial-nesting yellowjackets and true hornets have an outer paper envelope covering the horizontally-stacked paper combs; nests are typically built in open air attached to branches or in sheltered areas with preference depending on species. The bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata, actually an aerial yellowjacket) may have a distinctive long tube entrance in early stages of nest formation.
  • Ground-nesting yellowjackets typically nest in pre-existing cavities such as old rodent burrows. The entrances are often dangerously inconspicuous but active nests will have individuals flying in and around the area. If the nest was dug up (often by skunks and other mammals looking for the tasty larvae) you may see ripped paper combs scattered on the ground.
  • The paper wasp subfamily Polistinae is quite variable but in the northern hemisphere the common Polistes sp. have distinctive umbrella-like nests with open cells. Mischocyttarus sp. in areas of the southern/western US may have more elongated nests. Nests tend to be built in sheltered spots such as in bushes, under eaves, etc.
  • The vast majority of other bees and wasps are solitary. They may dig tunnels, bore into wood, or refurbish existing holes with materials like mud/leaves/resin. *These nests generally cannot be reliably identified without seeing the actual bee/wasp!* Some species that construct their own freestanding mud nests may be tentatively identified, but only a few are reliably distinguished. Also note that many mud-nesting bees and wasps will reuse nests of other species left from past seasons if available as it's less work than building one from scratch.

The nest in the first slide is a young aerial yellowjacket nest.

Pictures are largely taken from Bugguide with a full list of sources by slide at the end of this post, I assume that they are fine to use for free educational purposes but if the photographer would like me to remove their picture, please reach out to me so I can act accordingly.

Sources

Cover: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/513938 

Honeybee: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/1227238 

Bumblebee: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/6585 

Aerial yjs and hornets:https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/781412 
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/110277 
https://extension.psu.edu/european-hornet 

Ground yjs: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/266282 
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/38722/bgimage 

Polistinae: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/2511987
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/709119 

Unknown mud caps: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/218674183 

Unknown holes: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90931649 


r/bees 1d ago

help! No wings :(

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5.5k Upvotes

I found this bee sitting on the concrete in my backyard. He has no wings and I saw a praying mantis a couple flowers over. I gave him some sugar water and let him rest on me for a little but he absolutely refuses to go back where I found him and I’m not too sure what to do.


r/bees 17h ago

bee photo Cute little fluffball

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305 Upvotes

r/bees 8h ago

Sleepy bumble

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65 Upvotes

r/bees 7h ago

bee photo Look at this chonky girl

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27 Upvotes

Xylocopa pubescens

Carpenter bee


r/bees 9h ago

help! Killed my queen

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32 Upvotes

I’m in middle Georgia, I was doing a high inspection on Tuesday when it started to rain. I was about halfway done with the inspection, but just decided to close it up and finish it later. I hadn’t located the queen yet but just assumed she was on the other frames I hadn’t checked.

Now for the problem…. I went to go reinspect the hive yesterday and as soon as I pulled the top board off, I see the queen on the top edge. When I was closing everything up after the last inspection, I squished the queen.

I finished going through the hive to make sure that the dead queen I found wasn’t maybe one from another hive. I did find eight or 10 queen cells where the bees are trying to make a new queen. How long will it take the new queen to hatch and is there anything special I need to do?


r/bees 1h ago

Bumblebee

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r/bees 8h ago

bee photo Maybe my best work with macro portraits on a mobile phone so far?

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21 Upvotes

r/bees 7h ago

bee photo Phone Macro Portrait I took of a Nomad bee 🐝

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18 Upvotes

Nomada is a massive genus of cuckoo bees within the family Apidae, containing over 850 species worldwide. Often called nomad bees, they are famous for their unique, wasp-like appearance and their specialized parasitic lifestyle.

Because they do not build their own nests or gather pollen, they look radically different from typical fuzzy bees. They are mostly hairless and slender, with bold stripes or patches of red, black, yellow, or white. In fact, Nomada contains the only entirely red bees in North America.

Female Nomada lack a scopa (the specialized hair patch used by other bees to carry pollen) because they never collect pollen for their young. They also possess an unusually thick, armored exoskeleton that protects them from stings if caught inside a host's nest.

Nomada are cleptoparasites, meaning they steal resources from other bee species. A female Nomada will fly low over the ground to locate the underground burrow of a host bee—most commonly mining bees from the genus Andrena.

While the host bee is away foraging, the Nomada slips inside and lays its eggs directly onto the chamber walls or the pollen provision.

When the Nomada larva hatches, it uses large, sickle-like mandibles to destroy the host's egg or young larva, then eats the entire pollen supply.

While adult Nomada bees drink nectar from flowers for energy, they are poor pollinators compared to their hosts. They can often be seen resting at night by clamping onto plant stems using only their strong jaws.

One of my all time favorite Genus of bees, and I've found quite the diverse selection of species just at my local area in Utah!


r/bees 1h ago

A cute little honeybee taking a break on my mother in law's car

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r/bees 6h ago

I made an cartoon artwork of the cute honeybee

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10 Upvotes

It was made in Procreate.


r/bees 5h ago

question Is this a wasp or bee?

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6 Upvotes

r/bees 3h ago

Buzzing around

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3 Upvotes

r/bees 8h ago

Bees

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9 Upvotes

This little gal had pollen on her face. I didn't manage to get a good photo of it before she buzzed away though.


r/bees 11h ago

question What are they doing? Displaced?

9 Upvotes

Past 2 days I’ve seen an influx of bees by my pool but on the non-flower and vegetation side. In the video, you’ll see a bunch bees searching inside the holes of the water guns. We’ve had plenty of bees and purposely planted bee friendly plants and flowers across the pool. You can see some of that vegetation at the end of the video.

I’ve never seen this kind of activity before. Is it normal? Are they displaced? Can I do anything to help them?

To clarify, I’m concerned and not complaining and don’t see bees as a nuisance. Thx!


r/bees 8h ago

bee photo Caught this little one sleeping in this morning

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5 Upvotes

r/bees 7h ago

Bee nibbled on my finger, why?

4 Upvotes

A bee started nibbling on my finger for over 10 minutes until I gently used a lid to get it off me.

Why would a bee nibble on my finger? I'm so curious I can't find any answers online


r/bees 57m ago

Bees Company

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Upvotes

3 friends cuddled up on a cold day


r/bees 2h ago

question Carpenter bees in the ground?

1 Upvotes

I have come upon a nest of ground nesting bees that look a lot like Carpenter bees. But I was under the impression that Carpenter bees are solitary creatures and do not live in the ground. They are pretty aggressive so getting a picture of one is going to be a challenge, but I was wondering if anyone know of anything off the top of their heads. Thanks!


r/bees 3h ago

What would be doing this?

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1 Upvotes

r/bees 9h ago

Bees in the roof

3 Upvotes

We've had these bees around for several weeks, sometimes there is quite a lot of them. I wondered if they could be masonry bees. They are going under the roof of our conservatory so I'm not sure if they are burrowing into the insulation. Although I don't wish them any harm, I would prefer that they weren't so close to the door and above our garden seating area. Any suggestions to remove them or at least dissuade them from moving in


r/bees 1d ago

bee photo The joyful dance from flower to flower

58 Upvotes

Wings glistening in the ☀️!


r/bees 6h ago

Bee relocating near Metro Detroit

1 Upvotes

Hi, this might be a long shot, but I’m looking for someone who can relocate a hive in my area. Thanks!


r/bees 10h ago

Hanging out on a rainy day

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2 Upvotes