Identifying Honey Bees

Identifying Honey Bees

If you see a swarm of insects, you might wonder if they’re honey bees or something else. Honey bees look like this:

In the following image, the honey bee is circled. All the others are not honey bees:

When honey bees swarm, they form a cluster that looks like these:

Swarm photos © 2012 Amanda Gain Azevedo

These are the kinds of swarms that the Alameda County Beekeeper’s Association will remove at no cost. Our organization works only with honey bees — if you’re being bothered by hornets, yellowjackets or wasps, those are something that Alameda County Vector Control can help with if they’re not “inside habitable structures”, or that a pest control company can help with if they’re indoors.