In Ohio, our only highly social bees are the honeybee (Apis mellifera), and native bumble bees in the genus Bombus. Other native bees exhibit varying degrees of sociality or communal activity. Individual female digger bees (genus Anthophora) will often nest in dense aggregations in suitable soils, as will plasterer bees in the genus Colletes.
Males of some solitary bees may gather at a “lek” for purposes of finding mates or in loose sleeping clusters where they spend the night.
Our social wasps include paper wasps, yellow jackets, and the European Hornet. Some wasps that are normally solitary will, like the bees mentioned above, congregate in sleeping clusters. These masses of wasps can be all males, or represent both genders.
Many solitary wasps and bees are attracted in great numbers to colonies of aphids, scales, and related insects that produce a sweet liquid waste called “honeydew.” Many wasps seem to prefer honeydew to flower nectar. Fermenting sap oozing from wounds in trees is another source of carbohydrates that wasps crave. Lastly, many plants possess “extrafloral nectaries” apart from flowers that produce sugary substances coveted by certain bees and wasps.
