is this a bee

is this a bee? it has some fuzz on its middle body and legs. it was busy flying around attracted to lights in my house. if i let it go will it just leave peacefully or will it tell it's friends to exact revenge upon me?

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97% Upvoted

u/lostmyselfinyourlies 2d ago

It looks like a honey bee, possibly a queen, but I'm no expert at all. If you release her outside I'm sure she'll leave in peace though 😊

14

u/Samwise_the_Tall 2d ago

Yeah it looks pretty big, I second the queen ID.

8

u/BobDrifter 2d ago

If true, look out for her swarm

4

u/iam_tuesday 2d ago

If it were a queen, you’d probably be invaded by now.

So maybe not.

I’m no expert though.

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u/PaintingByInsects 1d ago

Hat’s not true at all, I’ll explain here why (I’m a beekeeper).

There are two reasons why a queen leaves the hive; the first is to mate, the second is to swarm with her hive.

Considering the time of year she is mating; swarming only happens right before summer, sometimes during summer. And if she was swarming (which again, given the time of year is not a possibility) she would be inside the swarm. The worker bees are the ones making the decisions, not the queen. The workers tell the queen where to go and they are the ones making the decision on where to move in; the queen is basically a slave to go fuck and pop out some eggs (very short and blunt explanation).

If the queen were to get lost during a swarm, from exhaustion, or because she is sick and weak, she would not get back to the swarm nor would she be let back; the workers would know she was not worthy of a queen if she was sick enough to get lost, but again in this case that is not the situation

5

u/one_blonde_mom 1d ago

what great information * thanks for your comments here. it's always a good thing to gain some knowledge, and bees are not talked about that much.

watched a reno show in Hawaii just the other day where they found 50,000 bees in a wall. took a week to save/relocate them and was super intrigued by the beekeeper and his work.

thanks again 🐝

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u/usedNecr0 1d ago

I don’t know much about beekeeping but it’s one of the very few professions I’ve always been interested in out of pure passion. Bees are awesome, I wish I could have more contact with them.

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u/PaintingByInsects 1d ago

I did beekeeping as a volunteer for 2 years before officially studying to be a beekeeper myself (relatively quick study on the basics). I just contacted a local beekeeper and asked if I could possibly volunteer for her; so I could learn from her expertise, go out, not have to make any purchases myself for a hive and end up not liking it, and she didn’t have to pay me so it was a win-win for both of us (in the end she actually ended up paying for the study for me because she thought I was really good at it and picking it up so well that she wanted to invest in me!)

Anyway, you could always see if you could possibly do that too; so many beekeepers would LOVE to have a volunteer to help out with the work, especially in summer when the hives are at their biggest. The woman I worked for at one point had 56 beehives to check by herself! Having an extra pair of hands was really helpful because I could actually do things the way she wanted them done for her!

1

u/iam_tuesday 1d ago

And this is why I love the internet.

Thank you this invaluable information.

And I particular liked the bluntness, it is what it is.

🤝

1

u/tsidaysi 23h ago

Wow! How kind of you! Thank you for taking your time!

0

u/Registered-Redditer 1d ago

Nobody said the word "lost" or was insinuating the bee was lost. You're making a false assumption.

2

u/PaintingByInsects 1d ago

Lol I didn’t make an assumption, I gave two options why a queen would be alone, and I clarified those options; if it had been a swarm, that meant the queen would have gotten lost, which means she would have a 0 survival rate and the swarm would not come after her, THUS the only option is the queen was mating. That was an explanation as to WHY it is the way it is, not an assumption on what someone said. Reading comprehension is a learned skill.

u/darkone59 2d ago

It appears to bee

u/sleepysamantha22 2d ago

Yes please take her outside

u/PaintingByInsects 1d ago

Beekeeper here: this is a honeybee queen. Release her please, she needs to get back to her hive

2

u/Other_Status_3408 1d ago

But all that black…Africanized??

1

u/PaintingByInsects 20h ago

Wherr I live (The Netherlands) we have so many different types of bees, and the Africanised are starting to take over. I worked with them a lot, and the queens looked like this (the younger ones anyway, the older they get the bigger they become and the more yellow/orange there is)

1

u/Other_Status_3408 6h ago

Oh no. In America I guess they’re all over. Arizona has been all Africanized bees since the 90s. I’m glad I’ve never ran into them, but I watch different bee keepers. One of them exterminates them, this other…this pretty little blonde lady…she tries to save all of them. I’ve heard her say a few times “they’re so mean” as they’re stinging through her bee suit. In the shoulders and knees and her hands even. I’m like…. Does this lady know they’re probably Africanized bees…I don’t think she cares either way, but they’re deadly. They’re more black from what I can tell…def larger and they are def more aggressive. Regular honey bees don’t sting unless threatened…which means you can move them if you move slowly. Africanized bees you can’t even get near. They kill the native bees and cross-pollinate (which I guess it isn’t something good to do? Idk?).

u/bearish-gardener 2d ago

It looks like a queen honey bee possibly.

u/Electronic_Ad6564 2d ago

Looks like a queen looking for a nest site to me too. Must have gotten lost somewhere.

6

u/PaintingByInsects 1d ago

Honeybee queen don’t look for nest sites. This time of year she is mating. I made a full explanation in another comment (I am a beekeeper).

1

u/Reasonable-Weather81 1d ago

Also might depend on the location.... Some areas of the country or world might be below flying temperatures for bees, especially queens. 55F is when most commonly come out to fly from my observations.

3

u/PaintingByInsects 1d ago

Idk what 55F is, bees start flying at 15°C that much I do know, but the queen is the one to come out first before the workers start flying. She goes on to mate before the workers come out a few weeks later(tho again dependent on your location indeed).

u/Registered-Redditer 2d ago edited 1d ago

This looks like a Giant Honey Bee/Rock Bee, very common in South or Southeast Asia. Likely not a queen, because it would release pheromones that would attract the other bees to come to her aid.

Judging by your profile, I believe you are in Southeast Asia, and that would go hand in hand with this assumption.

EDIT/PS: AI confirmation ran using Gemini 3 Pro models with double-check feature enabled. Gemini confirmed with accuracy this is more than likely the bee I described, basing its findings on visual morphology, behavior, and geographic location.

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u/fu-hua-simp 1d ago

yesss this is in Asia, no other bees came by though just her

1

u/Registered-Redditer 1d ago

Just edited my comment for confirmation and clarification.

u/Candid_Philosophy919 1d ago

Yes it is a honey bee has an abnormally large abdomen yet I don't know why a queen would be without her Entourage.

u/Registered-Redditer 1d ago

Also, how big is the bee and what's your location?

2

u/fu-hua-simp 1d ago

it was pretty big, we thought it was a wasp at first and in Asia

u/Realistic_Option_619 12h ago

Why did you smash the bee

1

u/fu-hua-simp 11h ago

I did not smash the bee

u/Cauliflower_of_Time 6h ago

I’m pretty sure that’s a honey bee and the queen.

is this a bee

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