Wasps, Hornets, and Honey Bees – Oh My! How To Handle These Insects

August is typically the hottest month of the year in Georgia, and the heat means one thing: bugs! Due to the weather, you may notice an influx in bees around your home. It is very important that you take care of pest problems, especially bees, immediately to prevent future harm. Here is some info to help you tell what kind of bees are swarming around your home:

How To Handle These Insects

Wasps

Wasps, also referred to as yellow jackets, can be a very big problem if they decide to nest around your home. Although they tend to help control other insects, wasps have stingers and can prove to be harmful, especially if someone in your home has an allergy to bees and wasps. Wasps are typically black and yellow, however some have red abdomens. They appear to be shiny can be identified by their distinctive markings, their occurrence only in colonies, and their rapid, side-to-side flight pattern prior to landing.

If you start to notice wasps flying around your home, it is best to contact a professional pest control service right away rather than trying to remove them yourself.

Hornets

Hornets are the largest of all wasps. They tend to be mistaken for yellow jackets, but they are usually black and white, rather then yellow. It is very important to contact pest control professionals at the first sign of hornets. Hornet stings are much more painful to humans than typical wasp stings because hornet venom contains a large amount of acetylcholine. It is also important to know that if a hornet is killed near it’s nest, it may release pheromones that can cause the other hornets to attack. As you can see, hornet removal is something you want to leave to the pest control professionals.

Honey Bees

Honey bees can be distinguished by their production and storage of honey, and their construction of nests from wax. They are known to communicate with each other by “dancing.” Honey bees can often be found around your garden and they are a real nuisance to people suffering from allergies, as they collect, transport and feed on pollen.

It is important to contact pest control professionals if you see honey bees around your home because they can sting you, and like hornets, alarmed honey bees release a pheromone that stimulates the attack response in other honey bees. While many people think honey bees die right after stinging a human, in reality, they only die if the skin of their victim is sufficiently thick.

Need Professional Help? Contact Lookout Pest Control, formerly Any Pest Inc., Today!

Here at Lookout Pest Control, we feel it is important for you to know how to identify different bee species. While you can spray their hives at night to destroy them, you should contact our pest control professionals for immediate service, especially if you or a family member has a bee allergy or if you notice a large amount of bees around your home. Contact us today for a free estimate!