madgardener wrote:
this is a question posted to me by "Spunkie" who is up in Michigan
and hasn't gone to the newsgroups for quite awhile. Anyone out
there an expert on this?
madgardener

is pollinator still on the garden newsgroup?
we are having an off topic subject about bees on my parrot group.
i described what we call yellow jackets up here, and some of the
people steered me to what looks like a mainly yellow wasp. mustard
yellow
not the same bee i am talking about.
the one up here is about 1/2" long, between 1/4 and 1/2 " wide.
mainly bright yellow, black stripes around the main body [3 ?] and
i think an all black head [hey i haven't seen 1 since fall last
year.] they are usually the first bees in spring and last in fall.
its fuzzy like a honey bee. they are basically non aggresive
unless people start messing with them, they will sting several
times.
they are big compared to most bees. if you laid 1 on a quarter its
body would almost fill it lengthwise. with a small area left on the
sides.
can pollinator point me to web sites with american bees? the link
i was given was in the uk. their bees may be diff. than ours.
this is 1 link they sent me. course can't find the other one. but
this one says yellow jackets.

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/...identification

any help i would appreciate. maybe you know which one i am
talking about. can't just be a michigan bee.
spunkie

Google returns a bunch of Yellowjacket sites.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5