Yellowjacket sting vs bee sting
If a barbed stinger is stuck in the skin, it was a honey bee — scrape it out sideways immediately. If one insect stung several times, or you were near food, bins or a ground nest in late summer, it was a yellowjacket.
Side by side
| Yellowjacket sting | Honey bee sting | |
|---|---|---|
| Looks like | a raised red welt, often with a visible central point, and marked swelling | a white raised centre in a red swollen area, with the barbed stinger often still in the skin |
| Pattern | single or several — this wasp can sting repeatedly | single |
| Size | 10–100 mm | 10–100 mm |
| Appears | immediate sharp pain | immediate sharp pain |
| Lasts | pain hours; swelling can last several days | swelling up to several days |
| Itch | ●●●○○ 3/5 | ●●●○○ 3/5 |
| Pain | ●●●●● 5/5 | ●●●●○ 4/5 |
| Usually on | hands, face, neck, legs | feet — bees are often stepped on in clover, hands, face |
| Active | daytime, peaking in late summer when colonies are largest and food-seeking | daytime |
| Where from | ground nests in banks and lawns, wall cavities, rubbish bins and picnic tables | flowering lawns and gardens; hives in trees, walls and managed apiaries |
| Disease risk | none known in the US | none known in the US |
What actually settles it
The stinger. Honey bees leave it behind with the venom sac attached, and it keeps pumping. Scrape it out with a card or fingernail — do not pinch, that squeezes in more venom. Wasps leave nothing.
Behaviour. Yellowjackets are the ones at the picnic and around bins, and they get more aggressive as summer ends. Honey bees are on flowers and sting when trodden on or trapped.
Number. Multiple stings from one insect means wasp. A honey bee dies after stinging once.
Treatment is otherwise the same: wash, cold pack, antihistamine, pain relief. Adrenaline auto-injector immediately if one has been prescribed. Breathing difficulty, throat tightness, faintness or hives away from the sting means emergency services now.
When either one needs a doctor
- throat tightness, breathing difficulty, dizziness, hives away from the sting — emergency
- stings inside the mouth or throat
- many stings at once
- swelling that spreads across a whole limb over 24 to 48 hours
- breathing difficulty, throat or tongue swelling, faintness, hives away from the sting — emergency
- a previous severe reaction to a sting
Questions
Can you have both at once?
Yes, and it happens more often than people expect — which is why the pattern of the bites matters more than any single mark.
Which one is more serious?
Neither carries a significant disease risk in the US. For both, the common complication is infection from scratching.
What if I still cannot tell?
Photograph the bites over several days and note where on your body they appear and when. Progression and position identify a bite far more reliably than a single photograph.
Get a photo assessment in the app
Everything above is free to read. The app adds what a page cannot: point your camera at the bite and get an assessment of the most likely cause, a severity read, and a day-by-day care plan — including the specific signs that mean you should be seen.
iPhone and iPad. Free to download.