Backyard Friends or Foe?

...well, at least for me!  Does anyone know if these guys can sting?  And what are they actually called...other than bees?

According to the book that Ellis just got at the library...Kids Discover (Vol22, Issue 6, June 2012)...this is a bumblebee.  These bumblebees are slower than honeybees and rarely sting.  They look fatter because of their hair.  They only make enough honey to feed their young.

According to Lester Peyton, the Front Desk Naturalist and my new best friend at the Cincinnati Nature Center...the bees above are Carpenter Bees.  This one is a male and he can not sting.  The females sting (on occasion using their ovipositor (egg layer).  going to have to look that one up

The males have the white face.  And you can tell the difference between bumble bees and  Carpenter bees by their abs.  Carpenter Bees have shiny hairless abs while bumble bees have hairy abs.  Bumble bees both male and females sting.  

I can just see me now checking all the abs of any bee that comes into the yard.

...well, at least for me!  Does anyone know if these guys can sting?  And what are they actually called...other than bees?

According to the book that Ellis just got at the library...Kids Discover (Vol22, Issue 6, June 2012)...this is a bumblebee.  These bumblebees are slower than honeybees and rarely sting.  They look fatter because of their hair.  They only make enough honey to feed their young.

According to Lester Peyton, the Front Desk Naturalist and my new best friend at the Cincinnati Nature Center...the bees above are Carpenter Bees.  This one is a male and he can not sting.  The females sting (on occasion using their ovipositor (egg layer).  going to have to look that one up

The males have the white face.  And you can tell the difference between bumble bees and  Carpenter bees by their abs.  Carpenter Bees have shiny hairless abs while bumble bees have hairy abs.  Bumble bees both male and females sting.  

I can just see me now checking all the abs of any bee that comes into the yard.