Comments on: World’s Largest Yellow Jacket Bee

By: kathy

kathy — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:47:16 +0000

This appears to be a giant European Hornet.
They are VERY large, but generally not as aggressive as their cousins. They actually will run away rather than attack unless they are defending their territory or are touched.
They will defend their nests and food sources such as lilac bushes and fruit trees…and their sting is quite painful.
They are also carnivorous and eat crickets, other bees, etc.
They are nocturnal and workers are attracted to lights at night.
All but the queens die off in the fall and don’t generally reuse their nests.
There’s a great write up about them on wiki and masterbeekeeper.org

By: Junior

Junior — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:50:07 +0000

That is wild…
That is where they appear to be nesting in my yard, and my neighbor`s yard, Lilac bushes…
I say appear because I have never actually seen them climb in or out of anywhere, but they just are crawling up and down the shoots of the bush, pulling the bark off in certain areas…
When we turn the lights on in the back yard at night, they swarm around them…
Years ago while back-packing, my nephew and I witnessed the same thing Jerry (Wade) Mcguire did, but three of these hornets were attacking a Cicada, we caught one and dissected it… They have 6 very large what appeared to be poison sacks connected together like a string of pearls…
Anyway, they must be attracted to Lilacs!
Peace!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:16:42 +0000

I have seen MANY of these bees during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. They look EXACTLY like the pictures that Ken Savage posted! They seem to nest somewhere in (or underneath) my Lilac bush. So Far they’ve been more annoying than anything, but seemingly pretty hard to kill. The bees around my house in southwestern Virginia are a lot like what you’ve described, but the yellow stripes or coloring on them seem like a dark, almost orange color. We first noticed them a little more than a year ago, and so far no one has been stung by them. I’ve noticed that they seem to hover more quickly when someone gets too close to the the Lilac bush, and they love to buzz around the porch light at night. Other than that, and dang-near needing a brick to smash one, so far they seem harmless…let’s hope it stays that way! I would REALLY like to know what they are also. I’ve looked almost everywhere on the web, but couldn’t find anything.

By: Mike Hurst

Mike Hurst — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:58:09 +0000

I first discovered one of these giant jellow jackets July of 2011. It fell from a large elm tree while carrying a cicada hit the driveway and after a few moments picked up the cicada and flew away to the direction of the park. It seemed about 3 to 4 inches long. Today 9-21-11, I noticed my dog trying to eat something and it was another of these giant yellow jackets. It was dead but the stinger was protuding from its posterior abdomen and it looked like a sewing needle. The thought of being stung by one of these bees is frightening. Are they aggressive or only interested in cicadas…

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:29:21 +0000

Found these entering a small opening in the aluminum siding under the eaves of the house. They have been feasting on the hummingbird feeders and literally chasing the hummingbirds! They chase them for a hundred feet or more. Sprayed up the hole and found hundreds of them dead this morning. Many more than I expected. Based on today’s research, I think they are probably European Hornets. (I had been calling them giant bees…) Anyone else see them chasing hummingbirds?

By: Deb Hennessey

Deb Hennessey — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:56:38 +0000

The pics on this site look like European Hornets. We have had dozens of them in our lilac bushes for at least 6 years. They strip bark from bushes and trees for nest building and eat the sap and bring back sap balls to feed the immature in the nest. Two of their favorite bushes/trees are lilac and birch. When I first saw them and looked online for information, every site I found said that they are not aggressive. I had not worried about them until this year when one shot out at my husband and stung him on the wrist. He said it was extremely painful and days later felt like a deep bruise. These hornets have also been flying onto our deck and chasing us into the house, day and night. From what I’ve read,all but the fertile females (next years queens) will die off sometime in the next couple months. I’m not willing to wait that long and have waged war on these SOB’s. I bought a bug zapper (they are attracted to lights at night)and my first night was like watching fireworks! Once we’re sure that they are done for the season we’ll be removing all of the lilacs from our yard hoping that this will be the last year we see them.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:12:55 +0000

I have seen these things in my back yard looks like a yellow jacket just allot bigger I am going to catch one and have it identified

By: JESSIE

JESSIE — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:14:08 +0000

I got stung buy one of the big yellow jackets they dont like it when you cut down the tree there feeding on or getting there building material from. my fore arm is hurting real bad I hope it dont get worse or I my have to go to the hospital. it was about an 1″ and a half long. had about six in my face when one snuck up and got me in the arm.

By: kelly

kelly — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:29:21 +0000

I live on long island, NY. I have these giant bees also looks just like a yellow jacket but is atleast 2-3 inches long and thick. My boyfriend Tried to kill it he used almost the full can of hornet/ wasp stray which only stunned it. We had to flush it!! If anyone found out what they are please respond! I just really want to know if they are dangerous or will hurt us!?! Thank you

By: cory

cory — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 21:54:25 +0000

all of you people are morons(with the exception of a select few), if you really dont know what the bee is then catch it and take it to an agriculture office or something and have it accurately identified. I personally have just caught one in a beer can yesterday killed it with bug spray and am taking to such a place that it can be identified i will be sure to let you all know, but if i had to speculate i would say its somekind of hybrid hornet