Curious about a bee you’ve seen? Here are some resources to help you figure out who it is.
Identification guide to bees of North Carolina
Common Bees of Eastern North America
Step one: Is it definitely a bee?
Bees, wasps, and flies all visit flowers; here’s a video on how to tell them apartMany black-and-yellow stripey insects are not bees; here’s a guide to some of the biggest, most noticeable bee-like insects in North Carolina (all in comparison to the ‘murder hornet,’ which is NOT in North Carolina)
This guide covers a few common non-honey-bee stinging insects
Step two: Which bee?
Identification guide to bees of North Carolina
Draft checklist of bees in North Carolina (this list won’t help you actually identify a bee, but it will tell you what could possibly be in the state)
It’s often difficult to identify a bee from a photo, but the iNaturalist website and its identification app ‘Seek’ are getting ever better at it.
Recommended books for bee identification
Common Bees of Eastern North America
Step three: Still not sure what it is?
Your county Agriculture or Horticulture agent may be able to helphttps://www.ces.ncsu.edu/local-county-center/
The NC State Plant Disease and Insect Clinic may be able to help