r/bees May 31 '26

Is this a bee?

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Make sure that your yellow fuzzy friend is actually a bee and not an imposter! We get quite a few non-bees in our bee subreddit: sometimes they're wasps (check out the bee/wasp guide in the pinned), and sometimes they're not a stinging insect at all! Flies in remarkably detailed costumes frequently make their way into r/bees but with some tips and practice you can learn to spot the differences. Read through for features to look out for, or flip through the slides for fly species commonly posted.

Pictures are largely taken from iNaturalist with a full list of sources by slide at the end of this post, I assume that they are fine to use for free educational purposes but if the photographer would like me to remove their picture, please reach out to me so I can act accordingly. All pictures from slides 1-5 can be credited to mod Commercial Sail.

Flies are in a completely different taxonomic order to bees (flies are the order Diptera, bees are a subgroup within order Hymenoptera) so there are quite a few easy ways to differentiate them:

  • The name "Diptera" literally means "two wings" flies only have one pair of wings while bees have two pairs. Most identification rules are more like loose guidelines but this rule is absolute! That being said, the hindwings of bees are difficult to see, they're smaller and often tucked underneath the larger forewings, making the bee look like they have two wings after all. You can try to judge based off of wing shape: fly wings are often paddle-shaped with a clear curve before coming to a petiolate base, while bee wings are generally more evenly tapered towards the base. More experienced identifiers may also look at wing venation, for example the western honeybee in slide 3 has the very distinctive elongated marginal and submarginal cell circled in red.
  • On the topic of wings, on some flies you may see club-shaped structures where the hindwings would have been: these are halteres, specialized organs to help the fly navigate flight. Not all flies have them out and visible but if you do see them then it's a sure sign you're not looking at a bee.
  • Flies typically have short, stubby antennae that can sometimes be difficult to see while bees have comparatively long antennae. Make sure you're looking at the actual antennae and not the forelegs! More common in the wasp-mimicking flies, some will wiggle their long forelegs to sell their image even more.
  • Flies tend to have larger eyes that can seem to take up their whole head where bees tend to have smaller eyes with a clear distance between them.
  • Many bees may be seen carrying pollen or have their pollen-carrying structures visible: most often as hairs/pollen baskets on the hind legs or sometimes hairs on the underside of the abdomen. Flies do not have these structures as they do not need to gather pollen like bees do.

Note that besides the wing count, there are always exceptions! Some flies have pretty long antennae (though you'll often still be able to see the different segmentation) and some bees, particularly males, have very large eyes. This is why it's better to judge based on a combination of characteristics rather than looking at any one feature at a time.

You may also hear that the waist and mouthparts are good identifiers as well - this is true, but I elected to leave them out of this guide as the waistline may be obscured by fuzz, wings, or just a poorly-angled shot, and some bees are just so robust (fat) that it gets difficult to see where exactly that tapered waist is supposed to be. In terms of mouthparts, few amateur photographers focus on the mouth at all and it's definitely not something you'll typically see if you're just watching them go about your garden.

At the end of the day, the best trick is to just get familiar with species in your area using trusted sources like Bugguide. If you're still not sure, post to one of the bug identification subreddits and make sure you give a general location, which always appreciated in ID posts no matter what you're looking at!

Sources

Volucella zonaria: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/322106668 

Bombylidae: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/226072821 

Laphria: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88331437 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/282732509 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65816664 
 
Cuterebra: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133138438 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90333390 
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/296063941 

Tabanus: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/218653131

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/86467240


r/bees May 26 '26

What's this nest?

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Are you looking to ID a nest? Some are easier to distinguish than others, here's some of our most commonly submitted species:

  • Honeybee nests consist of exposed wax combs, usually hanging vertically. They're more often found in cavities like tree hollows or man-made frames but may also be seen constructed in open air attached to large branches or buildings.
  • Bumblebees also have wax nests but are typically smaller with fewer and more disorganized cells compared to the neat hexagonal cells of other social hymenopterans. They typically nest in small spaces like old rodent holes but will occasionally find themselves in human spaces like attics and crawl spaces.
  • Aerial-nesting yellowjackets and true hornets have an outer paper envelope covering the horizontally-stacked paper combs; nests are typically built in open air attached to branches or in sheltered areas with preference depending on species. The bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata, actually an aerial yellowjacket) may have a distinctive long tube entrance in early stages of nest formation.
  • Ground-nesting yellowjackets typically nest in pre-existing cavities such as old rodent burrows. The entrances are often dangerously inconspicuous but active nests will have individuals flying in and around the area. If the nest was dug up (often by skunks and other mammals looking for the tasty larvae) you may see ripped paper combs scattered on the ground.
  • The paper wasp subfamily Polistinae is quite variable but in the northern hemisphere the common Polistes sp. have distinctive umbrella-like nests with open cells. Mischocyttarus sp. in areas of the southern/western US may have more elongated nests. Nests tend to be built in sheltered spots such as in bushes, under eaves, etc.
  • The vast majority of other bees and wasps are solitary. They may dig tunnels, bore into wood, or refurbish existing holes with materials like mud/leaves/resin. *These nests generally cannot be reliably identified without seeing the actual bee/wasp!* Some species that construct their own freestanding mud nests may be tentatively identified, but only a few are reliably distinguished. Also note that many mud-nesting bees and wasps will reuse nests of other species left from past seasons if available as it's less work than building one from scratch.

The nest in the first slide is a young aerial yellowjacket nest.

Pictures are largely taken from Bugguide with a full list of sources by slide at the end of this post, I assume that they are fine to use for free educational purposes but if the photographer would like me to remove their picture, please reach out to me so I can act accordingly.

Sources

Cover: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/513938 

Honeybee: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/1227238 

Bumblebee: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/6585 

Aerial yjs and hornets:https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/781412 
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/110277 
https://extension.psu.edu/european-hornet 

Ground yjs: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/266282 
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/38722/bgimage 

Polistinae: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/2511987
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/709119 

Unknown mud caps: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/218674183 

Unknown holes: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90931649 


r/bees 21h ago

bee photo Bumblebee queen rescue

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My betrothed and I found who I'm fairly sure is a young buff-tailed bumblebee queen close to death on the pavement. I'm fairly sure she's a queen as her tail tip is a pale yellow rather than a bright white, and she's huge, about 2.5cm. She was at risk of being trampled where she was and hardly moving! I named her Vienna as we were listening to the Ultravox song when we found her.

All I had on me was an apple so I gave her pieces of that, she drank and drank from it but still seemed weak, so I took her home for the evening, made her a little tofu box hotel and gave her a sugar syrup soaked kitchen towel in a bottle cap. She drank and drank and drank the sugar syrup and went to sleep.

This morning I opened the box and moved it into sunlight and she started bumbling around much more energetically, so I took her to the local park. I found a north facing bank of loose soil, at the base of some trees and shrubs. Apparently a pretty perfect hibernaculum spot for her.

I could watch insects going about their lives for hours. I found it really hard to say goodbye as I don't know if she'll be alright, but I hope I've given her the best shot. I've always adored bumblebees and have a tattoo of one in honour of my late mum who loved them more than anything. Rescuing Vienna led me to research them a lot more and the love only grows, like I didn't know that bees dream 😭

I thought I should share this story here, I've rescued bees out and about many times but never had an overnight guest, let alone royalty! She was just so cute


r/bees 16h ago

bee photo A bee with pockets of pollen

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A chill be I found who had stacks of pollen. Hardworking kid it looks like.


r/bees 8h ago

bee photo some small pollenators🐝☺️

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r/bees 5h ago

bee photo another little kind of bee🐝❤️

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r/bees 16h ago

bee photo fueling up before fall🌱📸

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r/bees 6h ago

bee photo Hanging out on a zinnia

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The garden is alive with all kinds of bees and other pollinators, this little guy was chilling on a zinnia this morning.


r/bees 19h ago

bee photo Heaven

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My son took this very cool photo and just sent it to me. Loved it so much and thought I would share his work. (He is not a professional photographer- but loves taking photos)


r/bees 13h ago

One of these gals are massive. Different species?

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Near the end of the video, there's one that takes up half a bunch of flowers while the other bumblebees are tiny


r/bees 1d ago

Delighted in the dust

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Two bees just enjoying themselves


r/bees 13h ago

question Is this alive bee recording the location of a dead bee?

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Bees and other pollinators love my basil. I noticed today a dead bee on one of the flowers. You can see it dangling in the center of the video. Another bee to the left appears to be observing it from different angles. Is it recording the location of the dead bee somehow?


r/bees 10h ago

bee photo This was exciting to capture

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r/bees 13h ago

bee ID Giant, fuzzy, Bee?

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I've noticed some giant new bees in my garden. They're more than twice the size of the Mason bees. About an inch long with a very yellow and fuzzy abdomen. They are not aggressive and don't seem to care about the other pollinators on the same flower. What are they and are they invasive or not?


r/bees 7h ago

Spider on the Apimaye

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r/bees 15h ago

misc 🐝 New painting & some fun facts about bumblebees

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Fun fact: the genus Bombus (bumblebees) evolved in the Himalayas during a period of global cooling (big! fuzzy!) and then crossed over to the Americas over a land bridge across Beringia during the Miocene Interchange around 20 million years ago. In other words they are basically the bee version of woolly mammoths — but did it first by 19 million years so woolly mammoths are basically the elephant version of bumblebees.

Another fun fact: bee wings generate a positive static charge with friction and then transfer it to the (negatively charged) flowers they visit...they can tell if another bee has visited a flower in the last couple of minutes because they sense changes in the flower's electrical field! Super effective way to avoid competition for nectar that results in more effective pollination. Nature is rad.

Just painted this for a solo show in Santa Fe while thinking about how psychedelic ergot has been growing on flowers since the Cretaceous Period and therefore bumblebees have always, always had to watch where they sip.

16” x 20” — acrylic on canvas

#savethebees


r/bees 12h ago

question Bee question🐝

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I was watching a bee pollinate a bunch of flowers in my backyard and I have a question about it. It was going to every single yellow flower, and I mean EVERY single one, the little guy worked really hard to pollinate a ton of them. When it was done with the yellow ones I assumed it would go to the red and purple ones that were also there, but it seemed to strictly avoid those colours. Why would this be?

I looked it up and Google says bees enjoy many flower colours, so not sure why this bee avoided the reds and purples.


r/bees 19h ago

bee ID Big boy- what is it?

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Saw this guy in Colorado and she was huge. Anyone know the species?


r/bees 10h ago

bee photo Sweet Bee

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r/bees 14h ago

Stocking up

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the bumblebees are loving these!


r/bees 1d ago

ITAP of a bee searching for food

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r/bees 9h ago

What Are the Key Differences Between Traditional Beehives and Flow Hives for Beginners?

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r/bees 18h ago

WTH is going on here?

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r/bees 14h ago

bee ID Two Different Bees

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Two different bees but I am awful at identifying bee species. Not sure what species these could be or if they're both the same species. I have many different kinds of bees that come into my yard.

Located in NW Florida, USA.


r/bees 18h ago

bee ID Species Identification?

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Hi all! I was snapping photos of my garlic chives in my backyard in PA and got some bee photos. I want to refrain from asking AI so could y'all identify the species? If y'all have an ID if you could say the photo number so I can put it on my google sheet that'd be great, thanks all!!!