Color: Black with yellow stripes.

Bumblebees are often known by the hairy abdomen.

Behavior – The bees will attack to defend their nest, so with this in mind, a health concern is justified.

Habitat – Bumblebees will reside in rodent burrows, or other holes in the ground. Sometimes, these bees will establish a nest above ground in a wood pile, shed or similar location.

Control – Please contact a professional for treatment if a nest is found in or around your home.

Tips:
To prevent bees from establishing nests in your lawn, fill in all rodent hols and burrows that you may find.
Seal any holes in the exterior of your home or building.

Color: Carpenter bees are black and yellow.

Carpenter bees resemble bumblebees in both size and color, however the Carpenter bee has a shiny black abdomen with little hair.

Behavior – The male carpenter bee guards the outside of the a nest and will attempt to chase away potential predators. He does not have a stinger, however will still cause intimidation with his aggressive buzzing behavior.

Habitat – Logs, dead trees and limbs as well as bare wood decks, window sills, and fences.

Control – If holes are found in wood which are beleived to nests for these bees, contact a professional for treatment.

Tips for prevention:
Keep wood around your house and deck painted.

Honeybee
Size: 1/2-inch in length.

Color: Yellow with dark bands of brown.

Most everyone recognizes the honeybee common to any flowering garden.

Behavior – These bees may be seen clustered on a fence, tree limb, or a building, during a rest before flying off to find a nesting site. Because several hundred bees are usually part of this type of swarm, people are often concerned about the chance of the bees attacking. Normally, the bees in these swarms are nonaggressive unless disturbed.

Habitat – Honeybees usually nest inside voids within trees, they will also nest within caves and cracks in rocks. It is possible to find a nest in an attic or similar residential location.

Control – Because the Africanized honeybee (Killer Bee), cannot be distinguished from the standard Honeybee without detailed scientific inspection.

Tips:
All honeybee nests or swarms found should be respected at a safe distance.
Never attempt to treat a nest of Honeybee's without the proper training and equipment.
If a nest has been removed from within a residence, or outbuilding, the honeycomb will need to be removed. If not, the honey will rot, producing a strong odor.

Color: Gold with dark brown stripes and markings.

Behavior – These social wasps build paper nests constructed usually from wood scraped from logs, decks and houses. Loud vibrating equipment such as lawn mowers can disturb the hornet and cause them to attack.

Habitat – Constructs paper nests usually in trees and large bushes.

Control – Hornets should only be controlled by an experienced professional. The danger of a sting is probable. Proper clothing and equipment will be required.

Tips: Stay away! and notify a professional.

Color: Black or sometimes steel blue in color. Sometimes with darker brown markings.

Behavior – Mud daubers are solitary wasps that construct small nests of mud in or around homes, sheds, and barns and under open structures, bridges and similar sites. This wasp group is named for the nests that are made from mud collected by the females. Mud is rolled into a ball, carried to the nest and molded into place with the wasp's mandibles in the shape of cylindrical tubes resembling pipe-organ pipes.

Control – Control of these insects is not warranted since they normally pose little threat. Rather, mud daubers should be regarded as beneficial, since they remove and use as prey many species of spiders which most people find disagreeable. The mud nests can be scraped off and discarded at night if they are objectionable, or wasp and hornet aerosol sprays can be used to treat nests if desired.

Color: Many are reddish-brown or dark red. however other will have bright stripes of red and yellow.

Behavior – This wasp makes a round paper nest attached by a single stalk to a horizontal surface.

Habitat – Nests are commonly found in attic vents, corners of door and windows, under decks and in soffit.

Control – Paper wasp nests are usually easily controlled using a wasp spray or by contacting a professional such as Select Pest Control.

Tips:
Treatment is safer if done at night, however a professional can safely treat them during the day.

Color: Small wasps with black and yellow stripes.

Behavior – Yellow jackets will aggressively attack when their nest is disturbed, and can inflict a very painful sting. Unlike the honeybee, which can sting only once before dying, a yellow jacket can sting multiple times. Yellow jackets can pose a health risk if found near your home. If this is doscovered, please do not attempt treatment. Contact a professional such as Select Pest Control.

Habitat – Yellow jackets usually locate their nests in the ground. They may have nests located in a crack or hole in a building.

Control - Contact a professional such as Select Pest Control.

Tips:
When working outside, be aware of more than one wasp flying into or away from a single location. This usually indicates a nest is near.
Be careful when using power equipment such as mowers, trimmers and edgers. This equipment will distrub a yello jacket nest and cause to to attack.
If you find a nest, STAY AWAY.