Is this a bee or a wasp?

[Tom]

I'm currently waxing beams (and will be for some time to come!!). Each time I start, there are one or two of the following come flying out of the wood and I can't make out whether these are bees or wasps. Can anyone identify them? I'm guessing it's the fumes that may be disturbing them, as I'm using Liquid Beeswax carried in Turpentine.

 

[Flyfisher]

Looks like a bee to me. I think they must hibernate indoors because we often have a few buzzing around in the winter if we light a fire in an unused room. I assume the heat wakes them up in much the same way that your fumes may be disturbing them. Just a guess though.

Now, where's our resident entomology expert?

 

[LadyArowana]

Looks like a bee to me too. Wasps wear high viz jackets. Do they emerge from actual holes in your beams? or could they be coming from a space above the beams?

 

[MdB]

A better picture and a scale is really needed.

It isn't a common wasp, it is most likely a bee but could possibly be a sawfly.

http://www.eakringbirds.com/eakringbirds4/photogallerythumbsbeesandwasps.htm

 

[LadyArowana]

A better picture and a scale is really needed.

OK

 

[Tom]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I do love this group :roll:

If this is a bee I'm horrified.....because I killed the poor thing

I'm back in the house soon for more waxing, so I'll get a better picture.

They seem to come from gaps between the carriage beams and joists, and also from the holes where pegs were previously. If they're just hibernating bees then I don't mind them being there at all and I'll apologise for disturbing them. However, if they're wasps.......game on!!! :twisted:

 

[MdB]

Ah, that makes it easy.
Dr Who - "The Unicorn and the Wasp" - Series 4 Episode 7

 

[Tom]

http://www.eakringbirds.com/eakringbirds4/photogallerythumbsbeesandwasps.htm

I never realised there were so many different kinds of bees and wasps!!

 

[Tom]

Right, just come back over for a cup of tea and a raspberry turnover So, here's some pics of the beastie.....

 

[MdB]

95% sure that is a normal Honey Bee Apis mellifera.

I believe most wild swarms don't survive which is a pity.

 

[Lime]

The bee is a form of Masonry, Mining or Leaf Cutting Bee.


http://www.localhoney.co.uk/about-bees/different-types-of-bees/

 

[Tom]

@ MbD...His wings look a bit too long to be the same as that picture, don't they?

@ Lime...If they're masonry bees, shouldn't they be coming out of the pointing or plasterwork?

Either way, I'm really embarassed to have killed a bee. I won't be killing any more, that's for sure!!

 

[MdB]

The bee is a form of Masonry, Mining or Leaf Cutting Bee.


http://www.localhoney.co.uk/about-bees/different-types-of-bees/

Could be (sorry) but I can't find a picture of one it looks like. I do agree though that a solitary bee is more likely than a honey bee.

 

[MdB]

@ MbD...His wings look a bit too long to be the same as that picture, don't they?

Is this better? (same bee, same flower)

However, I do agree, the wing length doesn't look quite right and the colouring at the base of the wings looks different.

 

[Tom]

I just had a really quick look at some pictures of Masonry, Mining and Leaf Cutting bees on the internet and they all seem to have feelers on their heads. My poor little chap doesn't have any. Does that mean he could be something else? Or is he a mutant? He does look more like a honey bee from that point of view.

 

[Penners]

'At look loike a bee to me, gel. Yew wanna look a'ter he.

 

[jamest]

It's possibly neither a bee nor a wasp but one of these . .[img][/img]

Notice the eyes are not like a bee but like the eyes in the posted image . . . and there are no antennae.

If it is one of these, be afraid . . .. be very afraid!

 

[MdB]

Ah yes. Didn't think of that. You could be (sorry again) right about that. Very much don't be (damn - really should stop that) worried about killing them....

 

[Flyfisher]

Funny how this thread has revealed an almost universal sympathy for bees but total dislike of wasps.

I've been looking for a wonderful cartoon from an old Private Eye but couldn't find it. For Eye readers it was one of the "Apparently" cartoons.

Anyway it was titled something like "The Difference Between Bees And Wasps".
The cartoon had a top row of three bee sketches, subtitled something like "Worker", "Drone" and "Queen".
Underneath were three wasp sketches with the subtitles "B@stard", "B@stard", "B@stard".
But without the @.

Seems that PPUKers would concur.

 

[Tom]

So come on guys, what is it? I agree, it does look like the last but one picture, including the faded colour just behind the head. What is it, what is it?? :?