Please help me identify if this is a honey bee or not

We have some type of hive or colony of what appear to be bees underneath our front porch. I don't think they're wasps as we got kind of close and they didn't bother with us, and from what I could see they weren't wasp shaped. They are all intent on flying in and out of the opening under the porch, but none of them will stay still long enough for me to look at them or even to try to take a picture. 

I know that if they are honeybees there are people who will come get them. They do seem to be bee shaped, but I also know that some non-honey bees look similar, as well as some non-bee species that mimic bees

This is the best I could do, and it went in the shadow right as I was about to take the picture so it doesn't really show a good example of what they look like

Probably yellow jackets. They are preparing to overwinter where the nest is located.  They have not attacked since they don't feel threatened by you.  Leave them alone and the coming frost will take care of them.  If you want an immediate solution call Buckingham from Maplewood and he will take care of the situation.

I'm fairly familiar with yellow jackets, including one time I was stuck in a car with a small nest of them by accident, and the shape looks different, they don't have the thin waist (or whatever you call that part of an insect) and they aren't long enough

I'll try to get another picture

absolutely, positively without a doubt a yellow jacket.

I've waxed philosophical about bees and wasps on MOL before. They're wonderful, helpful creatures... with the exception of yellowjackets, which are HYPER aggressive in the defense of their nest. They have NO place close to human traffic.

They are not preparing for and will not overwinter. The nest dies out and will not be re-used. That said... we are headed for fall, and 2 things will happen: one, the nest will grow to possibly a thousand members. And 2, they will become more aggressive as food source needs both shift and become less plentiful.

I let paper wasps build nests over my door within inches of where my face passes. I have no problem with wasps or stinging insects generally. In fact, I sort of love them. I even believe baldfaced hornets, who are equally aggressive, should be left alone because they usually nest up way too high for humans to get up in their biz and get swarmed. Yellowjackets nest in the ground and sometimes in walls. Walk too close, cause too much vibration even, and you are going to be in trouble.

Sorry, in that location they gotta go, sooner better than later. Good news is just a little bit of Tempo at the entrance will end it in a day, and won't poison the whole area. Do it at night, with no flashlight. Honest to god, the bastards post sentries at the entrance.

Looking at the pic and your description- looks like they are under the siding or soffit. They CAN and DO chew through walls and can end up in the house. 

If it was far from human traffic I would say leave them alone- again, I personally appreciate them generally, but social wasps broadly and yellowjackets particularly do not belong close to human comings and goings- let alone actually nesting in a human built structure. 

Let me reiterate, the picture I posted SUCKS, I was trying to take a picture of a moving target with a smart phone and I then had to blow it up to try make it more visible, which resulted in a severe decrease in quality of the image.  The only way they are yellow jackets are if they are midget yellow jackets.  These are way too small.  Someone else also thought they were yellow jackets from the picture, but then when he stopped by and he saw them in person he also agreed that they were not.

We have yellow jackets in the backyard.  I know what they look like.  Believe me, if I knew where their nest was, I'd nuke them in a minute.  But the guys under the stairs ain't them.

They are going under the stairs to reach underneath the porch, they seem to be swarming over the dirt right next to the cement pillar supporting the porch.  The general offline consensus seems to be that they are most likely one of the native non-honey bee species.  Not a wasp or hornet, bees, just not honey bees.  Apparently some of them are ground dwelling, and though most are solitary, they sometimes will group their tunnels together and give the appearance of a large nest.  Also, some of the native bee species do live in colonies.

I had an opossum living underneath the porch a few years back, it wasn't aggressive, so I let it be.  So long as these odd bees continue being pacifists I will let them stay also.

spontaneous said:

I'm fairly familiar with yellow jackets ...

Just fyi, I bet author is, too. If memory serves, he has professional exterminating experience.

DaveSchmidt said:

spontaneous said:

I'm fairly familiar with yellow jackets ...

Just fyi, I bet author is, too. If memory serves, he has professional exterminating experience.

Again, someone else who saw my sucky photo also thought it was a yellow jacket, but when he saw it in person he agreed that it absolutely was not.  Also, he said "probably," not absolutely.  And his information doesn't seem to line up with Jackson_Fusions about them overwintering and not being a threat.  Personally, I have never met a living yellow jacket that wasn't pissed off and ready to fight, kinda like the Russell Crowe of the insect world.

I will try to post the original picture which gives a better sense of how small this thing really was.  And I also want to stress, the picture just didn't seem to capture its true shape, and as it had just ducked into the shadow right when I took the picture, the color is also off as my camera didn't have time to adjust

Edited: I can't get the damned picture to load

.

Yellow jackets can't consult the internet.  They do not know that they are unable as a nest to overwinter.

I have only seen one that managed and that was inside a basement next to a furnace.  It was the largest nest I have ever seen. It had already sent forth males to sting a furnace repair man.  As I approached it in nearly pitched black darkness they buzzed " we are going to kill you".  That one was a challenge

A conventional nest will send the queen and a few drones to the center of the structure.  With luck, they and they alone will survive the winter.   In the spring they will fly off some distance,  perform a mating ritual and then the queen burrows into the ground to start off a brand new nest in a different location.  If this was not done that would be the end of the yellow jacket population.  That having been said no matter what the 

identity now that I am not obligated to kill off the small wild life I always advocate that as long as they

pose no danger to anyone............simply leave them alone.

https://www.orkin.com/stinging-pests/yellow-jackets/yellow-jacket-life-cycle/

Still 100% on yellow jacket. Def a social wasp. Not any sort of bee. If you're posting from southern fla I take back the overwintering thing.

Young yellowjackets can look almost cute size wise. They still hate you.

Time for confirmation: get a casserole dish. Fill it with soapy water nearly to the top. Smear a paint stir with dog or cat food (wet) and lay face down over the water, leaving 2/3 inch between it and water.

OR get a soda bottle. Cut a hole about the size of a quarter. Leave 3 inches of soda in the bottom. A clear bottle is best. Leave the cap on. Make sure it isn't sugar free  

Put it near the activity and see who shows up for breakfast.

spontaneous said:

Again, someone else who saw my sucky photo also thought it was a yellow jacket, but when he saw it in person he agreed that it absolutely was not.  Also, he said "probably," not absolutely.  And his information doesn't seem to line up with Jackson_Fusions about them overwintering and not being a threat.

I noticed that. Right or wrong, it wouldn't be the first time that someone with professional experience was contradicted on MOL. Just thought the brief C.V. might be helpful as you weighed advice. 

Given your caveats about the photos, you may end up dissatisfied by any advice you receive here, in which case a call to Buckingham's sounds like the best bet to ease any worries.

ETA: And it really wasn't a contradiction, come to think of it, in that author stated only that the flying things would prepare to overwinter -- not that they would succeed.

DaveSchmidt said:

spontaneous said:

Again, someone else who saw my sucky photo also thought it was a yellow jacket, but when he saw it in person he agreed that it absolutely was not.  Also, he said "probably," not absolutely.  And his information doesn't seem to line up with Jackson_Fusions about them overwintering and not being a threat.

I noticed that. Right or wrong, it wouldn't be the first time that someone with professional experience was contradicted on MOL. Just thought the brief C.V. might be helpful as you weighed advice. 

Given your caveats about the photos, you may end up dissatisfied by any advice you receive here, in which case a call to Buckingham's sounds like the best bet to ease any worries.

ETA: And it really wasn't a contradiction, come to think of it, in that author stated only that the flying things would prepare to overwinter -- not that they would succeed.

Oh no.  If yellow jackets managed to survive the winter and continue with their nests intact we would soon be over whelmed by them.  Only in special circumstances like within a dark basement,  next to a furnace will they able to thrive.  These were Jersey City yellow jackets and I am a Newark boy so only one of us could survive the confrontation.  I had to place my flashlight on the ground about 15 feet from where I stood and watch them attack it...........ping,ping, ping.  Meanwhile I sprayed the nest to the point of saturation.

At that point a career as an accountant seemed like not such a bad idea.

They do survive the winter in areas where "winter" means a brisk 55 degrees.

Next time you're cursing and shoveling snow, remember the alternatives.

Common sense comes into play here.  If a few queens and drones did not survive the winter in our area

there would be no yellow jackets north of the Carolinas.

Queens survive but move out of their parents house to overwinter.   Never really thought about the drones- figured the queens were inseminated prior to departure and the killing cold. Perhaps not. I do believe however the ladies do the inital work on their new digs alone.

I've had queens on 2 different occasions, 3 total, emerge in my home- presumably from plants brought indoors ahead of the frost. They are noticeably larger than typical yellowjackets. Bzzzzz.

the interesting thing about these guys is their total lack of aggressiveness.   I sat on the steps right over where they were flying in and out (in groups as well as singles) and it was as though I were invisible to them.  

Maybe mutant pacific yellow jackets?

I think they might be honeybees and would ask George at the UPS store.  

Any other pics you get I would love to see- you're right, the ones you posted do show something doing a heck of a "boo! I'm a yellow jacket!" impression.

Are they flying on a "bee line"? Are they all entering into one area? If so that's a nest they're heading into. If it is honey bees (it's not) that can be worse than social wasps because they'll stay there for a long time and make a mess.... they'll keep building their combs, and the food source can attract other pests. Unlike yellow jacket nests which you could probably leave in the wall, the honey bee nest would possibly need to be removed to avoid attracting other insects.

Putting the traps as described above will answer the question one way or another. Or you could just put a bit of ground beef out there, or some wet cat/dog food or even orange slices and just watch. Bees would ignore all of those. Yellowjackets will be all over it.

Or you could go breath hard into where they are entering while smacking the siding. Anyone convinced they're not yellowjackets feeling brave?  

Kidding- don't do it. I know what will happen.

Scully, they won't bother you until one of them decides you are a threat. Then they all will agree with the one. Science thinks there are multiple ways to piss them off. Just breathing is one of them. Vibration is another- the classic "but I was just mowing my lawn, why are you stinging me?" scenario. They are quite dyspeptic and intolerant neighbors.

I don't think they were bees OR yellow jackets.  There were only there one day.  Really odd.  At first I figured I only just noticed them for the first time that day because I tend to use the back door a lot and maybe just missed them before.  But the next day there were gone.  I waited, maybe they weren't as active because it was cooler, but nope, I've checked every day, not a single one.  So I had some weird 24 hour swarm of some very busy, non-aggressive striped bugs that seemed completely enthralled with the dirt underneath my front porch for one full day, and then moved on to greater things.

That settles it. They were juana bees.

It looks like a honey bee. But confused between juana bees and normal honey bees.

Juana bee, wanna be.  Sadly, it took me way too long to get that.