Ia That a Bee? Several times a week we respond to questions
similar to this one from Woody Dionne, Physical Plant Director
at Johnson State College. He writes: "Over the past few years we
have been experiencing more and more aggressive and invasive
bees around the school. Is this something new or am I just
getting more complaints? Yesterday I noticed that about four
swarmed around me and I was walking in a parking lot....African
bee's ?" Good question and a good opportunity for VBA members to
help educate the public about the differences between honey bees
and other insects often mistaken for honey bees (Apis
mellifera). This time of year people seem to notice an uptick in
the numbers of yellow jackets and wasps found around their homes
and places of work. Many of the calls we receive are for
assistance removing honey bees "nesting in the ground". That
almost always is an indicator the visitors are yellow jackets
(actually, members of the wasp family) since honey bees don't
live in the ground. For the record,