Bees vs Hornets

If you ask a guy, suffering from allergy to bee and hornet stings, about the main differences between these two insects he won’t tell you much. Not because he’s not willing to, but rather because of the anaphylactic trauma he has experienced.

Indeed these two colonial insects have the bad habit of stinging any unsuspecting ‘invader.’ While bees do that just to protect their nests and die after doing so, hornets often attack people without being provoked and they can also withdraw their stinger

Another major difference between them comes from the physical aspect, hornets are larger and have less hair on their body, while bees have pollen baskets in which they gather the most wanted reward. The bees are economically valued, producing the sweat honey and the wax, while hornets have no value for us, humans. That’s why humans build hives for bees and protect them with great care, even in front of more powerful hornets. There is another major difference between bees and hornets related to the nest look, as bees make their nest out of wax, while hornets do it out of paper (wood pulp).

Another issue differentiating these two related insects is the way they raise their larvae. While bees feed their offspring without expecting anything in reward, this is not the case with the hornets as the latter expect a sweat fluid from their babies. This is called mutual feeding and surely works well as you consider hornets dinosaurs as they are as old as any other living creature on earth.

A difference that is of great importance to us is the variance in aggressiveness displayed towards humans by these bugs. While bees sting humans only when they feel threatened or when they feel that their nest is in danger, hornets often attack people without being harassed. The worst part is that they inject their awful venom with every sting. The luckiest outcome is when a man, who suffered from a hornet sting, just crawls in great pain for several hours. The worst scenario that can happen to hornet victims is death.

So remember these major differences between bees and hornets:

1. Bees die after they sting while hornets don’t.

2. Bees are smaller. They have more hair on their bodies and pollen baskets.

3. Bees are of great economical value while hornets have no value for humans.

4. Bees build their nests out of wax, while hornets do it out of wood pulp.

5. Bees are less aggressive than hornets.

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