Know the Signs & Seasons

If you find one or two in your house by a light or on the inside of windows, these are polistes wasps or queen yellow jackets that found a way into your house via the attic or crawl space, or that were brought in on firewood.

Honeybees are the only species in our region that have live nests in the winter months. They cluster inside the hive and will only come out to forage and cleanse on warm, sunny days.

This hive would have been active in the previous late summer and fall with hundreds of insects being observed flying in and out of the cavity.

If you see them flying around the lights, or on the windows: polistes wasps and yellow jacket queens will start coming out of hibernation and can find themselves inside your house as they forage for food and nesting sites. 

If you see 1-10 insects flying around the peak of the house, soffit areas or the edge of a shed roof on a warm sunny day: these are polistes wasps starting to become active for the season.

Once plants start to bloom in the spring, bumble bee queens will start emerging from diapause. They have hibernated all winter on fat stores and take advantage of warm spring days to slurp some nectar and begin looking for good places to nest.

If you see 20-100 golden brown or black bees flying into a hole in a wall or in a tree: you have found a Honey Bee hive! Honey bees that lived through the winter will fly on warmer days in March and April. This would be a hive that was active last Summer and Fall.

If you see them coming out of small holes in the ground: several species of harmless solitary bees will start to emerge in April and often aggregate in sandy soil.

Bumble bees will nest in birdhouses and can have active nests in March and April.

Polistes wasps will sometimes use a birdhouse to hibernate in, and you will see them when the weather is sunny and warm.

If you have a plant that is in bloom (such as a Rhododendron) and every time you get near it they swarm around you, this is typical for bumble bees. 

If you see them flying around the peak of the house or maybe the edge of a shed roof: polistes wasps emerge from hibernation and actively seek out nesting sites in May. It is not uncommon to see 10-20 flying around at a time when the sun is out and the temperature is above 60 degrees. 

If you spot a small, grey, globe shaped nest about the size of a chicken egg or a little larger: this is the start of a yellow hornet nest 

Several species of solitary bees will emerge and start nest building in May. This includes mason bees and sand bees.

Is something living in your birdhouse besides birds? Bumblebees often use birdhouses to nest in. You can tell bumblebees from the others because they are round and stubby-looking, are often covered with hair and look fuzzy. Please note: bumblebees are valuable pollinators and we do not remove them. 

Yellow hornets can also take up residence in birdhouses, and so will the polistes wasp.

If you see them going into a wood pile, compost pile, grass clipping pile or under the house: Bumblebees are generally the only ones that have nests this early in these places.

If you see lots, up to 100 of them, going in and out of a hole in a wall or tree: you have found a honeybee hive! Honeybees are active when the temperature is 50 degrees or above.

If you see a cloud of bees (we’re talking thousands!) flying in the air: this is a honeybee swarm! If you hear a humming and find a ball of bees in a tree or bush, on a wall or on the ground, this is also a honeybee swarm.

If you see one or many small, flat paper nests with exposed combs in a shed or eve of a house:  These are polistes wasps.

If you see a nest that is globe-like from as small as a chicken egg up to the size of a football: this is either Yellow Hornets or Bald Faced Hornets.

If you cannot see a nest, but you see fewer than 30 of them going into the soffit area on the house and they are active from morning until dark: probably Yellow Hornets. 

If you cannot see a nest, there are fewer than 30 insects, and they are only active once it has warmed up and the temperature is above 65F: they’re polistes wasps.

Bumble bees are opportunistic nesters, and will often nest in places where birds have had a nest before, under a shed, in insulation, in hay, or in a grass clipping pile.

Is something living in your birdhouse besides birds? Bumblebees often use birdhouses to nest in. You can tell bumblebees from the others because they are round and stubby-looking, are often covered with hair and look fuzzy.

Yellow hornets can also take up residence in birdhouses, and so will the polistes wasp.

If you see lots, up to 100 of them going in and out of a hole in a wall or tree: you have found a honeybee hive! Honeybees are active when the temperature is 50 degrees or above.

If you see a cloud of bees (we’re talking thousands!) flying in the air: this is a honeybee swarm! If you hear a humming and find a ball of bees in a tree or bush, on a wall or on the ground, this is also a honeybee swarm.

If you see them going behind shingles, into cracks or sitting on the wall and they look a lot like flies: these are likely mason bees. Mason bees will sit on the wall and sun themselves, and although they look black they are a metallic blue when the light hits them right.

If you see many of them coming and going from small holes in the ground: these are a species of Solitary bee.

You can see a nest...

• It is on an eve, looks flat, and has exposed combs: these are polistes wasps.
• It is on an eve, is globe like, and has an entrance hole toward the bottom: these are hornets.        
• The nest is in a tree or a bush, and looks like a paper ball: these are also hornets.
• It is plastered in the corner and looks like mud: these are mud dobber wasps.

You cannot see a nest, but you see them coming and going from the soffit or eve...

• They are active from daybreak until dark: these could be yellow hornets, honeybees, or yellowjackets.
• They are only active when the sun is out and it is warm and they have long, dangling legs:  these are polistes wasps.

You cannot see a nest but see them coming and going from a hole in the ground, a stump, a box in a shed, a retaining wall, a brush or compost pile: these are probably yellowjackets.  

You cannot see a nest but you see them coming and going from a hole in a wall: these are either honey bees or yellowjackets.

You see several holes in the ground, and see them flying around when the sun is out and it is warm: these are sand wasps or another species of solitary bee.

You find one or two in your house by a light or on the inside of windows. These are polistes wasps or queen yellow jackets that found a way into your house via the attic or crawl space, or that were brought in on firewood.

Honeybees are the only species in our region that have live nests in the winter months. They cluster inside the hive and will only come out to forage and cleanse on warm, sunny days.

This hive would have been active in the previous late summer and fall with hundreds of insects being observed flying in and out of the cavity.