What's a Bee?
Bee, or honeybee, is the word many people use to describe any flying insect that
has wings and a stinger. But honeybees are really only one of a group of insects that
includes other bees, wasps, and ants.
Bees are fuzzy insects that feed on flowers. There are thousands
of different types of bees worldwide, and they can be many different colors. The most
familiar kind of bee is the honeybee. These bees build nests out of wax in old trees
and manmade hives (like the ones that beekeepers take care of) and spend a lot of
their time collecting nectar and pollen from flowers. Then they turn the nectar into
honey for food.
Wasps are closely related to bees, but instead of only feeding
on pollen and honey, wasps eat animal food, other insects, or spiders. They are not
fuzzy like bees, but seem kind of smooth and shiny, and they have skinnier bodies.
There are also thousands of different types of wasps in the world. Two common types
of wasps are bald-faced hornets and yellowjackets:
- Bald-faced hornets are black with white markings, and they build papery nests
shaped like footballs in trees and shrubs.
- Yellowjackets have yellow and black stripes on their bodies and are smaller than hornets
and honeybees. They make their nests in the ground or in old tree stumps.
Ants are small insects that can be brown, black, or red. Some
have wings and others don't. Some ants can sting, like the fire
ant. Fire ants are tiny and reddish-brown and live in nests under the ground.
What a Sting Looks and Feels Like
Honeybees, wasps, hornets, fire ants, and yellowjackets may look different and
have different homes, but they all sting when they are upset! If a person is stung
by any of these insects, the sting will feel a lot like a shot at the doctor's office.
The site of the sting will feel hot and it may itch. A red bump surrounded by white
skin will develop around the sting, except for the sting of the fire ant, which turns
into an itchy blister.
Wasps and many bees can sting more than once because they are able to pull out
their stinger without injuring themselves. Only honeybees have special hooks on their
stinger that keep the stinger in the skin after a person is stung. The stinger gets
torn out of the bee's body as it tries to fly away. As a result, the honeybee dies
after stinging.
