There are bees and then there are bees. In the spring and summer we see solitary mason bees or swarming, fuzzy honey bees or bumblebees humming here and there. And often that bee that you are swatting is not even a bee. It could be, for example, a hover fly or a wasp. Some flying insects are peskier than others, but they all have an important role as pollinators or predators and should be encouraged to inhabit your landscape.
Bees
Honey bees have yellow and black markings and thin wings. They are social and live in large nests; a portion of the colony overwinters with the queen. They are not aggressive and will ignore you if undisturbed. If they do sting, their barbed stingers fall off and they die after stinging. Honeybees are valuable pollinators in the garden as well as a great source of honey!
Bumblebees have bands of black, yellow or orange and have thick wings. They are fatter than honey bees; they are also social, making their small nests close to or in the ground. They feed on nectar and gather pollen to feed their young and live only a single season. The fertilized queen overwinters to begin a new nest in the spring. Bumblebees are usually not aggressive but they are able to sting multiple times. They are great pollinators for your garden crops. Bumblebees are buzz pollinators; the bee holds onto the flower and exercises their flight muscles, causing the flower to release more pollen. This type of pollination is especially useful for tomato, eggplant and blueberry flowers!
The solitary mason bee is slightly smaller than a honey bee and is a shiny dark blue color. This gentle and non-destructive bee lives in tunnels in wood. The bees lay their eggs in these tunnels and deposit pollen with each, building a wall between them and sealing the whole tunnel with mud. The developing larvae feed on the pollen and hatch in the early spring as adults. Mason bees are adapted to cooler temperatures and are good pollinators for spring blooming fruit trees.
Wasps
Yellow jackets are bigger than honeybees and have the characteristic waist of the wasp. They are aggressive and can sting repeatedly without dying. They are generally found in holes in the ground but can also nest in the siding on a house. Yellow jackets abandon their nest by late autumn and the fertilized queen lives over the winter. Your first instinct might be to get rid of yellow jacket nests, but realize that yellow jackets are doing their part pollinating the plants in your yard. They are also great predators of other garden pests including problematic pests like termites.
Bald Faced Hornets are either yellow or white and black and are way bigger! They are less aggressive than yellow jackets but they too can sting multiple times. Hornets are attracted to the color black and have been reported to attack black Weber kettles on occasion. Hornets can build huge ball shaped nests in eaves, attics, bushes, or trees. They post a guard on the outside of the nest near the entry hole and will attack anything coming too close to the nest. Otherwise they will fly right by you on their way to take care of their daily tasks. If they are in an untamed thicket or an unfrequented area of your yard, it is best to leave them be. They help with pollination and are great of garden pests. They will abandon their nest in the fall, and the fertilized queen will have to start all over next season, generally in another location.
Paper wasps are not as aggressive as yellow jackets. They build much smaller, open-celled, papery nests, often under the eaves of houses. It might be a problem if one of these nests is around your doorway or other high traffic area, but it is best to leave these predatory insects alone to benefit the environment. They are nectar feeders and are known to feed on caterpillars and fly larvae. They even chew up insects to feed to their young!
Parasitoid wasps are a diverse group of wasps that lay their eggs in a host insect, generally one we consider a garden pest. They use their stinger for depositing eggs into insects and not for stinging humans! The developing larva destroys the parasitized insect as it develops and hatches as an adult wasp Look closely at aphids and you will often see a mummified body with the escape hatch the wasp used. So don't swat these tiny, good guys, as they are doing your work for you. They also lay eggs in caterpillars, scale and other garden pests.
Other flying insects
Hover flies are true flies and, unlike bees and wasps, have just one pair of wings. There are many different species and sizes. Hover flies can be seen in the summer mixing with honey bees, bumble bees and other flower dependent insects as they feed on pollen and nectar. They are noticeable for their hovering movement in the flower garden, sometimes right in front of you! Hover fly larvae also attack aphids.
So stop swatting and get to know what is flying in your yard. Provide beneficial insects habitat, food and water. Diversify your landscape with native trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses, choosing ones that flower in different seasons throughout the year. Choose plants in the mint family, daisy family and carrot family for attracting both pollinators and predatory insects. Lavender, Brown Eyed Susan and Lovage are great picks from each family for your garden. It is OK not to be a tidy gardener. Let leaves, sticks and logs decompose on site, providing nourishing mulch and insect habitat. Stash shallow dishes among the plants to provide water and mud.
Most importantly stop or reduce your use of pesticides that upset the balance between predator and pest. Pests are higher in number than predatory insects. Let the predators have a chance to start feeding on the pests and keep them under control. Bottom line: if you spray any old insect you see in the garden, you might be killing a predator or a pollinator. So relax. Sit still. You might just be able to tell if that bee is really a hover fly.
Call or email the Garden Hotline for more information on plant choices, insect id and management and alternatives to pesticide use in your garden at 206-633-0224 or help@gardehotline.org. Visit the Seattle Tilth website for classes on organic gardening and natural pest control.
Website: www.gardenhotline.org
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