Read the insect, then the nest material, before anyone touches the site. A European honey bee usually shows yellow abdominal banding and fine hairs, about 13-16 mm long, with light brown wings and dark veins, and it builds wax comb in a cavity. A European wasp is bright yellow and black, with yellow legs, triangular abdominal markings and small black dots, and it builds a chewed-wood nest in a cavity or hollow tree. An Australian paper wasp is smaller, about 10-15 mm, reddish brown with yellow on the face, abdomen and thorax, and it hangs a papery nest. A potter wasp makes mud pots or uses an existing hole. A resting honey bee swarm may still be moved alive. A paper nest defending brood is not a swarm to box. Mud pots are neither.
Body cues from a distance
Stay back. NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) describes the European honey bee as hairy and banded. That soft outline is what most people mean by bee. A European wasp is smoother and sharper. Colour fails when mimics are present, and NSW has native bees and solitary wasps that do not look like a textbook honey bee. If the insect may be exotic, DPIRD's bees and wasps identification advice is to report it with a photo and not kill it, in case it is native.
What the nest is made of
Nest material is often clearer than colour. European honey bees build parallel wax sheets in a cavity such as a hollow tree, wall void, meter box or roof space, for brood and stores. DPIRD's European honey bee page sets that out. Wax with honey and brood is a bee signature. European wasps, on the DPIRD European wasp notes, chew fibrous wood into a nest and commonly hide it in a cavity or hollow tree. You may see only a small entrance and steady traffic. Australian paper wasps chew plant or wood, mix it with saliva, and hang that paper under eaves, often with open cells visible from the side. Potter wasps in the same DPIRD notes build mud or use an existing hole. Wax in a sealed cavity points to honey bees. Grey paper under a ledge points to paper wasps. Chewed wood behind a small entrance can be a European wasp nest. Neat mud pots are a potter wasp, not a hive.
How they use the entrance
Honey bees move in and out of a cavity on a steady foraging run. DPIRD notes they are generally docile and sting when threatened, and that a swarm may form once or twice a year while a cluster rests before a new cavity. A ball of bees on a branch or fence is that swarm, not a paper nest. Paper-nest wasps can react hard if the nest is disturbed. European wasps, territorial around the nest on DPIRD's account, can do the same at a cavity mouth. Wasps scavenge at outdoor food. Honey bees stay on flowers and hive stores. Bankstown streets carry both: wax in a wall void or meter box, and paper on an eave. A honey bee swarm resting on a Bankstown fence can still be boxed by a registered beekeeper, while wax comb already inside the wall needs pest control in Bankstown.
Native bees are not a colony to kill
Blue-banded bees, teddy bear bees and carpenter bees in a garden are not a honey bee swarm and not a wasp outbreak. DPIRD lists those natives as needing no action. Suspect an exotic species, and call the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881, use the online form, or email [email protected]. Do not kill the insect first. A nest destroyed because it "looks like bees" can take natives and still leave wasps. Wax comb with brood inside a Bass Hill wall is no longer a swarm on a branch, so that cavity is bee control in Bass Hill. A blue-banded bee on flowers in the same yard is not a reason to treat the garden.
Which call follows the nest
Keep people and pets clear. Do not hose, smoke or tip insecticide on a nest you have not identified. Wax, or a resting fuzzy swarm, points to bees. Paper, mud, or smooth yellow-and-black wasps at a cavity, point to wasps. A swarm that can still be boxed can go to a registered beekeeper. Bees deep in a structure are licensed pest work. A wasp nest is not a swarm catch. A grey paper nest with open cells under a Belfield eave is a paper wasp nest, so the work is wasp control in Belfield, not a honey bee hive. Honey bees already drawing comb inside a Greenacre wall void need bee control in Greenacre, because a swarm box cannot reach brood behind the plaster. A fuzzy cluster still on a Greenacre fence, with no comb, can still go to a registered beekeeper. Say whether the insect is hairy or smooth, and whether you see wax, paper or mud. A nest over a path people walk is sharper than one on a rear wall. A wasp nest above a Belmore footpath that people walk under should be left alone until urgent wasp control in Belmore can treat it, not knocked down with a stick.
What to check, then who to call
Take the photo from a distance. Check hair and waist, then nest material, then traffic at the entrance. Do not kill on colour. Report a possible exotic bee or wasp to DPIRD on 1800 084 881, and leave native bees alone. Wax and hair go to a beekeeper or to cavity bee work. Paper or mud goes to wasp nest work.