June 9, 2006
World’s Largest Yellow Jacket Bee
OK so I’m sitting at my desk today trying to figure out somehow to get some interviews and get a web deisgn job. If only something would just show itself and I would recognize it as my big opportunity and take advantage of it.
So then while working at my desk in the basement rewriting my resume I hear this loud buzzing flying around me in the dark. With only a desk lamp on I turn on more lights to see what it is. Almost sounded like a hummingbird but more like a bee flying around. When I turned the light on this is what I saw:
Click for larger images of these giant bees
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I captured him in a cd spindle cover so to scale this bee he looks to be about one third the size of a CD. That’s a big ass yellow jacket bee.
Hey btw if anyone is looking for a good web designer please contact me.
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Travis
10/03/2008 at 11:07 pm
Oh, sorry, I meant we didn’t want the wasps/bees here; we do want the dogs and babies. Should have proofed before submitting. Thx again.
Ed Jackson
10/04/2008 at 11:19 pm
If they are cicada killers and from Australia they are a long way from home. Think about it climate change man taking over their foraging area where else do they have to go but following thier food sorce UofA does have cicadas in your area?
jlh
10/05/2008 at 11:04 pm
I called an exterminator about the giant bees at my house. He said they are European Hornets. Then said that I would have to find the nest before he could take care of it. Said they generally make a nest in a tree and can be difficult to find as their nest may be up high in the tree and just inside of a nothole. GREAT! Like looking for a needle in a haystack, I am surrounded by trees. I have stopped putting my porch light on at night, but I need to get rid of them or they might be worse next year. Any suggestions?
TJD32204
10/06/2008 at 3:40 pm
I wouldn’t get carried away about your hornet problem, depending on where you live they shouldn’t be active much longer.
roxanne
10/06/2008 at 6:33 pm
@Ken Savage – hey, did you ever find a job??
The Doc
04/10/2009 at 6:53 pm
I’ve read everbodys post and can tell you the facts of the so called “Mystery Hornet”. Im a Carolina student in biology and the elusive creature that you folks have encountered is truly the Cicada Killer. The Cicada Killer ranges from the lower eastern to upper New England part of the United States and some parts of lower canada during mid-summer to late fall. Generally it has white to yellow stripes that do look like it was painted on from a distance of an observer. The main abdoman and thorax can be black to a reddish-brown color depending on the temperate climate or elevation changes in different regions. To those who posted the Cicada Killer only grows to 2.2 in, this is only an average size but can grow as long as 3 to 4 inches in lenght. There habits are pretty much basic during mid-summer when they are seen. The males are particularly the most seen because they will attack any movement of other male Cicada Killers,other bees,small birds, and flashy objects etc… You may see three or four male Cicadas swarming around eachother in fiecre battle just to mate with a passer-by female which is mistaken for aggressive behavior or neaby nest but harmless and stingless never the less. The female is the one that is the largest of the species and you better believe it has one hell of a sting but only if provoke or handle roughly. The reason people encounter them at night is because if in your area a fresh hatch of Cicadas appear (which is sometimes millions in one square block)they only hatch every 17 years and they are every where for about a couple of weaks during summer time. Since the primary food source of the Cicada Killer is the cicada, areas that have little to none cicada nests wont encounter a cicada Killer hence the “first time sitings” you guy witness.
bruce
09/09/2009 at 2:59 pm
can somebody please help me with identtifying this bee or what ever it is.i have been doing research for 2 days there is nothing close to this.the stinger is there but theres a nother one above it thats 5 times bigger u can reach me b.linscott74@yahoo.com thank u a try to hury i dont want him to rot away
Hillary
05/23/2009 at 12:08 am
We have bees larger than that on our farm in upstate NY.
My fiance smashed one, impaled it on a nail, and it lived for 4 days. Trying to sting whatever came its way the entire time.
stacey
05/23/2009 at 7:51 pm
i guess these things have made their way to West Virginia. I just saw TWO in one day, for the 1st time ever!! they are freaky!
bea
06/04/2009 at 7:41 pm
I found one dead on my basement floor, then today while downstairs one was flying around the light. I killed it with wasp and hornet spray. They don’t look the same as the cicada killer. I have a call into an exterminator. How are they getting into the basement?
TJD32204
06/05/2009 at 8:45 am
Hopefully it’s not some kind of Carpenter Bee.
teo
06/09/2009 at 9:55 am
It is in fact a Japanese Hornet. Theyu grow rather large and are common (we see them a lot in NC)
aniyasmommy
06/10/2009 at 5:26 pm
OMG…This happened last summer. We were in Central NJ going to an amusement park.Anyway the car broke down and we were stuck on the side of the road . We were there for a LONG time…So were standing and OMG…I NEVER EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR IN ALL of my life as a black woman seen something so scary….a HUGE ass bee…I saw fairly big bees before…You know the furry bees…This damn thing was as big as a friggin baseball with a stinger to match It was as big as a bird…So I see it and I literally have to pee right than and there… I was that scared! I took my kids and we jumped in the car and this damn thing landed on the window with a big ass thug like “whoomp!” and were screaming bloody murder …I swear after it left I swore I said…no that could NOT have been a bee…because I never saw one that big before !I was so shaken up I was literally like…out of it exhausted from fear… WTF did I see some mutant bee? It was so scary I try to block it out! What the hell if that thing were to have stung any of us I would have died! Literally!
andrew
08/29/2009 at 10:16 am
i know exactly what your talking about, i work all over jersey and i see these monster bees all the time the first time i saw one i freaked out.
Don Morgan
07/06/2009 at 1:21 pm
The three hornets that I saw in Eastern Washington came out of an old grwth fforest that was about a hlf mile away. They were about as fat as a bumble bee and about an inch and 3/4 long,, but smooth and the same color pattern as a regular yellow jacket. I wrote several universiiiiitiiiiiiiies, but never heard anything. I think they were prehistoric yellow jacket hornets that have survived from the days of the dinosaurs…
Frankenstein
07/06/2009 at 9:07 pm
Not very likely Don
Don Morgan
07/21/2009 at 1:51 pm
If it wasn’t likely, then why would I take the time to tell you about it. It’s sceptical people like you that have shuned almost all of the discoveries of new species.
I thought at first that the yellow jacket was a queen bee, but soon, i saw two more flying around the campsite. They were drawn to my campsite by the blood of the deer I’d harvested.
bruce
09/09/2009 at 3:02 pm
sounds like a meet eating bee there out there on utube
Frankenstein
07/20/2009 at 1:05 pm
The largest bee/wasp in NA would probably not be any bigger than a hummingbird.
Gloria
07/21/2009 at 9:30 am
I have seen these bees also. They look like giant yellow jackets–about 2-3 inches long with black and yellow stripes. They do not look like Cicada killers–much bigger and much more yellow on them. I even found a nest in a nearby storage area. The nest was huge–about 2 ft. by 3 ft.–and very unsual. It was not round–it was built over a hard hat that was hanging on the wall and the nest was not the usual solid grey color but actually a tan color with grey stripes in it. I have never seen anything like this before in my life! Has anyone found out what these are yet??!!
Frankenstein
07/21/2009 at 1:35 pm
Largest bee in the country=Cicada Killer
m selby
07/31/2009 at 1:29 am
that a large ass bee
Journey
08/01/2009 at 2:35 pm
So im looking at a monster bizzee with a yellow to black pattern on it’s back end and a wing span stretching to it’s back end as well if spread out it’s probably longer then the bee. Could you tell me what kind of bee I am dealing with here.
Sandra Russell
08/02/2009 at 12:13 am
If you wait until winter when the leaves are not on the trees and the hornets are not there you can get rid of the nest. The leaves help hide it and when gone make the nest easier to locate. Although if you come near it when the bees are active you should hear it! I came across one a few years back while horse back riding and it was loud.
If you live out in the country you can shoot it out of the tree. IN THE WINTER WHEN IT IS EMPTY! But we have no neighbors and lots of trees so we can just shoot it down, we don’t call exterminators here. Good Luck and be careful, them suckers hurt if they get you.
Jackie
08/02/2009 at 5:36 pm
We had a terrible problem with the european hornets last year, mostly when our front porch light was on, but really no problem this year. Not sure what changed. Maybe last winter killed them off. I did however have 2 yellowjacket nests in my flower beds this year. Not sure which I would rather deal with, Europen Hornets or yellowjackets!
Tanner
08/02/2009 at 8:26 pm
Well down in south carolina i would see these things daily, there not something special to see around our place really as you see them alot. Earlier this week i saw one on a bush holding a locust/cicada in its legs. I also witnessed two of them chasing each other in a circle, possibly for a mate as described by The Doc.
Greg
08/06/2009 at 6:43 pm
Ok.. I’ve been chasing these things for a few hours now in a huge field behind my house, we counted about 20 of them when they were out at their peak time, .. question.. do they live underground? I dunno if its the bee’s hole or the cacada but all i saw were the bee’s going down into the holes… very long deep holes. a few dead cacada were on the ground, i started using those as bait to catch one while it tried to carry it off, no luck yet but tomorrow ill try again. I was literally playing baseball with these things trying to knock one down to catch, they simply bounced off or went down then got right back up, i wanna catch one and keep it for collection without injuring it if I can…. they never tried to sting me, or i have dumb luck, but they sure are scary bee’s. my mom was told they were ants lol.
Jeff
08/13/2009 at 7:11 am
I have killed 2 of these things 1 yesterday 1 today
MAN they are scary
I really really don’t like bees
Scott
08/15/2009 at 3:27 pm
Over at Lake Roosevelt in Eastern Washington i saw 3. Although it may not be the same bee as in these pictures as i can’t see it very clearly, the ones i saw looked much bigger, at least 3-4 inches long. It was black with no yellow, instead of yellow it was a more dark orange with black, black head, and pretty fuzzy. We hit it witha a hat against the ground, hit it again out of the air with the hat when it tried to fly away, then hit it again a third time it tried to fly away, but this time we trapped it in the hat and brought it to a picnic table all the while it was vibrating the entire hat, we grabbed a fork that was laying on the picnic table…we smashed that thing and damn near cut it in half. It got up and flew away as we stared jaws open, 100ft away we could still hear it buzzing. I’ve looked up Cicada Killers on google image as well as European Hornets, none look like what we saw but they do have very similar characteristics. Maybe a mix breed between them or something.
Devone
08/26/2009 at 6:53 pm
Maybe we’re talking about the same hornet, because i thought that the one’s I had seen, were European, but they sound more similar to what you clame to have seen, than that of the European pics I had been viewing. The only thing is, they were living underground.
monica
08/17/2009 at 3:43 pm
Can anyone HELP me to kill these things. I can’t kill them. I have about 20 at my front porch and they want let us in the house. I have 3 younger kids that they have chase them. They r HUGE and i have tried everything. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME !!!! We r scared of them. I have never seen anything like this. I have been looking on line to find what these are. Hope someone can help me.
Devone
08/26/2009 at 6:49 pm
If anyone ever tells you that European Hornets do not make nests underground, they are wrong. I seen a bunch living under my step moms’ porch; right; that was a month ago. Guess where they are now? Digging holes underground to nest. They made a hole from one side of the sidewalk, right to the other side of the sidewalk. They are giant, and they have like a red hair on them; they look dangerous to me…..lol. I could be wrong though. However, I do promise that they are very large though.
ryan
08/30/2009 at 8:08 pm
i am looking at one right now its alive and is i a container if any one knows what they are contact me at rmdali69@yahoo.com thank you for your time ryan from harrisburg P.A.