What kind of bee is this?

[Michael C]

What kind of bee is this?

[paus]

these are yellow jackets they are BAAADDD  They make a stacked nest sometimes but similar to wasp nest  They also nest in the ground. They prey on a weak hive.  They crawl up your pants and can sting numerous times.  I got a call about bees in a residence and coming through the sheetrock or plasterboard for Brits and Aussies.  When I made small hole out they came, yellow jackets that is, I already had my suit on and was ready for anything except crawling.  This drill did turn out ok only 4 stings on legs and I got paid and the owners were VERY happy. Oh yes some people call these wasp "Guinea" wasp. TREV

[Michael C]

Thanks.  I've never seen yellow jackets this small around here. They are usually much larger. They have been showing up here recently.

[Michael Bush]

It is not a bee of any kind whatsoever.

[Psparr]

It is not a bee of any kind whatsoever.

All right smarty pants!

[Dallasbeek]

It is not a bee of any kind whatsoever.

All right smarty pants!

Have you heard of the term "wasp waist?"

If there's a wasp waist on an insect, it must be a wasp.  If not, look further.

So there, smarty pants.

[Twisted T]

I'm not sure that it is even hymenoptera, could be diptera

[BeeMaster2]

I'm not sure that it is even hymenoptera, could be diptera

Twisted,
That does not look like a fly to me. With nothing in the picture to compare it to, it is hard to tell size but it is definitely in the Yellow Jacket family.
Jim

[Michael Bush]

There are a lot of different kinds of yellow jackets and they actually don't have a wasp waist.  Other than being shiny and bright yellow and black they are very similar in shape to bees.  Size varies by the variety of yellow jacket, some are smaller than honey bees and some are slightly larger.  The paper wasps around here are often yellow and black and shiny, but they have the wasp waist.

[Twisted T]

I'm not sure that it is even hymenoptera, could be diptera

Twisted,
That does not look like a fly to me. With nothing in the picture to compare it to, it is hard to tell size but it is definitely in the Yellow Jacket family.
Jim

There is a lot of mimicry in the insect world. You would need to enlarge the image in order to look for halteres. But it does look like a yellow jacket. At any rate, like Mr. Bush says, it is not a bee.

[Michael Bush]

Definitely a yellow jacket.