Wasps are often mistaken for bees, leading many to wonder if they produce or consume honey. While both insects share similarities, their dietary habits differ significantly from bees, especially concerning honey.
The Typical Wasp Diet
The dietary requirements of wasps vary considerably between their life stages. Adult wasps primarily seek out sugary substances, which serve as a direct energy source for their flight and daily activities. These sugars come from various natural sources such as flower nectar, honeydew secreted by aphids, tree sap, and ripe, fallen fruits. They are also attracted to human-produced sweet foods and beverages.
In contrast, wasp larvae require a diet rich in protein to fuel their rapid growth and development. Adult wasps, particularly social species, are skilled predators, hunting a wide array of insects like caterpillars, flies, and spiders, as well as scavenging on carrion. They chew these protein sources into a digestible paste, which they then feed to their developing young within the nest. In return for this nourishment, the larvae produce a sugary secretion that adult wasps consume.
Why Wasps Don’t Produce or Primarily Consume Honey
Most wasp species do not produce honey in the way honey bees do. Wasps generally lack the specialized anatomical features and biochemical processes necessary for large-scale honey production. Honey bees possess a unique internal structure called a honey stomach, or crop, dedicated to collecting nectar, along with specific enzymes like invertase that convert nectar into honey. Wasps do not have these specialized structures or the suite of enzymes required for this transformation.
The social structures and foraging strategies of most wasps differ from those of honey bees. Honey bees establish perennial colonies that require substantial honey stores to survive colder months when foraging is limited. Most wasp colonies, especially in temperate regions, are annual, with only the queen typically surviving the winter by entering a state of hibernation, relying on her own stored energy reserves rather than a communal honey supply. While rare exceptions, like the Mexican honey wasp (Brachygastra mellifica), produce a honey-like substance, it is in much smaller quantities and primarily for their own consumption, not for long-term colony sustenance.
Opportunistic Feeding and Honey
While not a primary dietary component, adult wasps, especially social wasps like yellowjackets, are attracted to and opportunistically feed on exposed sugary substances. This includes honey if it is readily available, such as from neglected beehives or spilled human food. Their attraction to sweet foods becomes more pronounced in late summer and early fall.
During this period, the protein needs of the colony’s larvae decrease as they mature, leading adult wasps to seek out carbohydrates for their own energy requirements. Wasps can even become aggressive when attempting to access honey from beehives, sometimes preying on bee larvae and adult bees to steal honey stores. This behavior is distinct from the deliberate honey production and storage central to the life cycle of honey bees.
Wasps Versus Bees
The distinctions between wasps and bees extend beyond their relationship with honey, encompassing physical characteristics, behavior, and ecological roles. Physically, bees typically have rounder, more robust, and noticeably hairy bodies, which are adapted for collecting pollen. Wasps, conversely, are often more slender, with a smooth, shiny exoskeleton and a narrow “waist” connecting their thorax and abdomen. Their legs are also typically less robust and lack specialized pollen-carrying structures.
Behaviorally, bees are generally less aggressive and primarily sting in self-defense, with honey bees often dying after a single sting due to their barbed stingers. Wasps, being predatory, can be more aggressive and are capable of stinging multiple times without harm to themselves. Their diets also differ significantly; bees are largely herbivorous, relying on nectar and pollen. Most wasps are omnivores, preying on other insects for their young while consuming sugars for themselves, making them important natural pest controllers within ecosystems.