Bees – The fuzzy, black-and-yellow insects collect nectar to bring back to their hives

Bumblebees and honeybees buzzing around your Freehold, NJ flower garden are a common sight in the summer time. The fuzzy, black-and-yellow insects collect nectar to bring back to their hives, feeding the colony while pollinating your plants. Bees are often more helpful than harmful, but some can damage your property or pose a danger to your children or pets.

Identifying Bees

Bees share many features with their cousin, the wasp. Because of their similar appearances, many people mistake honeybees for wasps or hornets. This is problematic because bees are passive insects that won’t attack unless they feel threatened, while wasps are often predators that may attack without provocation. Wasps also aren’t great pollinators, so they don’t offer the same benefits as bees.

To figure out whether the flying insect is a bee or a wasp, look at the insect’s body shape. Honeybees and bumblebees both have short, round, fat abdomens with short yellow hairs covering the thorax and legs. The hind leg has a mechanism for pressing and storing pollen, which the bee carries back to the hive.

Wasps, on the other hand, have long, thin, pointed abdomens, and lack the hairs that bees use to gather pollen.

When Bees Are Pests

For the most part, you won’t need to worry if you see a few bees around your yard. Bees travel a great distance to find pollen, so the hive may not be anywhere near your home. However, some bees may choose to build their hive in or on your house, which may cause structural damage. Sometimes bees build their hives in between your walls, weakening the home and allowing bees into your house.

If you have a large colony living nearby, you might not like seeing swarms of bees near you or your loved ones. While you may know to leave bees alone, your child or dog might not. And if there are dozens of bees in the yard, they can be hard to avoid. In this situation, you likely need bees pest control. You should especially deal with the bee problem if one of your family members has a bee allergy.

Instead of living with the bees, trying to dig out the hive by yourself, or trying to eradicate them all personally, call Cavanaugh’s Professional Termite & Pest Services for bee removal. We help residents in or around the Flanders and Somerville, NJ areas get rid of dangerous bee infestations. Use the information on our contact us page to get in touch with the location nearest you.