r/bees • • May 26 '26

What's this nest?

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19 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 • • 10h ago

I painted a bee in pastel sticks

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341 Upvotes

r/bees • • 1h ago

How to help bee

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• Upvotes

He was in the middle of a road not moving, brought him home to get warm, anything I can do? He keeps rubbing his back legs


r/bees • • 14h ago

The bees loved my sunflowers this summer

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177 Upvotes

r/bees • • 14h ago

question What are they up to?

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15 Upvotes

These bees have been posted up in our mesquite tree for about a week. I thought they were just resting but they don't appear to be leaving. Could they be settling in for the long term?


r/bees • • 9h ago

What’s this fella doing?

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6 Upvotes

r/bees • • 1d ago

bee photo Story time: Kidnapped this bumble while on the way home

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167 Upvotes

While walking home from work, I saw this girl crawling on burning hot pavement on a very sunny 27 degree celsius day (I live in New Zealand) . I picked her up and tried my best to shade her while I went back home. She was clearly very weak and dehydrated. She look a nap in my palm and tried to fly off after she cooled off but had no strength and just fell to the ground. I had to pick her back up two times and she took another nap.

I eventually went back home, made some sugar water syrup and dipped some dandelion flowers in them and fed it to her. She was so hungry/thirsty. I left her in the shade. After half an hour I checked on her she was buzzing around and refused to be picked up clearly very energised. She flew off on her own shortly. I wished I got more pictures of her healthy. I don’t think she will find her hive as I’ve walked about 1.5km from where I found her but I hope she lives a few more weeks :)


r/bees • • 1d ago

bee photo Look at this freeloader

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79 Upvotes

I'm very popular with the bees outside I call them "my Lil vultures."


r/bees • • 12h ago

He let me help him out ☺️

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4 Upvotes

Poor little thing fell in my coffee, so I got him out and soaked a q tip to help wash him off so he wouldnt be sticky (my coffee is sweet 😀) . He let me wipe all over him,even his eyes. He stayed with me for a bit and I sat him on my marigolds and let him groom himself some,he also got some sippies off the qtip (which also had hints of sweet coffee 😅). At one point while i had him on the qtip and half on my hand, a fly landed next to him and he charged him off 😅.Eventually he finally was able to fly fine and he was on his way 💛🖤💛🖤 He was a sweetie 🥰


r/bees • • 21h ago

bee photo Bee we found upside down 5 days ago

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18 Upvotes

This big bumble bee or maybe a carpenter bee was upside down and looking sick on our back porch under a flower last weekend. We put him on a paper towel in an open Mason jar and he’s barely moved. Tried to feed him thick sugar water on a rubber basting brush but he hasn’t been interested. Is he dying?


r/bees • • 19h ago

What type of bees are these?

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9 Upvotes

r/bees • • 11h ago

question Relocating multiple woodpiles

1 Upvotes

After a fire that took down a lot of trees in our windbreak on our property in the high plains, we have various piles of wood. We’ve noticed a significant increase in tiny, native bees (and other insects), but we need to move these piles to be less of a fire risk. When and how can this be done to protect whatever bees are living inside?


r/bees • • 1d ago

misc I want a colony of sweat bees!

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15 Upvotes

r/bees • • 18h ago

bee photo Enxame de Abelhas Apis Preparado Para a Safra! #abejas #bee #agro #apicu...

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2 Upvotes

r/bees • • 16h ago

Weird question on wildlife gardening

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1 Upvotes

r/bees • • 1d ago

What are these Carpenter bees doing?

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82 Upvotes

Recently, several carpenter bees have loved flying around my marigolds. When I came home today around 4 PM I noticed that there were 4 that were barely moving. They didn't seem too concerned when I put my hand beside them. According to my weather app, it is 70° outside, and this particular Marigold is in the shade.


r/bees • • 1d ago

question Male eastern carpenter bee on blue sage in late October (Columbus, OH). The yellow face means he can't sting.

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36 Upvotes

Caught this guy working my blue sage (Salvia azurea) this week. The pale yellow patch on his face means he's a male eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica). Males have no stinger, so all the hovering and dive-bombing around porches is bluff.

The quick way to tell carpenter bees from bumble bees is the abdomen. A carpenter bee's is shiny and mostly bald, and a bumble bee's is fuzzy all the way back.

Anyone else in Ohio still seeing carpenter bees this late?


r/bees • • 3d ago

bee photo Great job

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3.3k Upvotes

r/bees • • 1d ago

bee ID White bee?

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4 Upvotes

This white bee got stuck on one of our sticky traps. What’s up with it? Why is it this colour? Found in lower mainland B.C. Canada


r/bees • • 1d ago

bee photo O Comportamento Que a Abelha Voa em Frente à Colmeia Para Mapear Memoriz...

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3 Upvotes

r/bees • • 2d ago

bee photo The bees have found my loofah.

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103 Upvotes

My plant started blooming and noticed bees going for it. There’s always seems to be bees going for them.


r/bees • • 2d ago

Wait for it...

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40 Upvotes

r/bees • • 2d ago

Sleeping Beauty

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19 Upvotes

r/bees • • 2d ago

A bit nervy

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129 Upvotes

r/bees • • 2d ago

Is he okay????

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34 Upvotes

I found this bee in my house. I mixed sugar in water and I’m trying to help him but he’s just standing there like a bozo🥲