What's that? A honey bee and a male yellowjacket on the same blossom?

That's exactly what we saw Nov. 14 at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis.

Honey bees and yellowjackets belong to the same order, Hymenoptera, but different families. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is in the Apidae family, while the yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, belongs to the family, Vespidae.

When beekeepers open the hives at the adjacent Laidlaw facility, trouble can start between the honey bees and the yellowjackets. It's no secret that female yellowjackets establish their nests near apiaries to prey upon honey bees and their brood. They need the protein for their offspring.

But here they were--the honey bee and the yellowjacket--together.

The first occupant: the honey bee. She began foraging on a rose blossom when suddenly a male western yellowjacket approached her. Seemingly unaware of his presence, she kept foraging. He poked her with his antennae. She ignored him. He crawled up next to her and took a close look at her. She kept foraging.

A few seconds later, he left.

Puzzling.

Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, later commented:  "I can't help but wonder why the male yellowjacket was visiting a rose flower--no nectar there, so no reward for him."

"Maybe he was just checking out the other occupant 'while searching for love in all the wrong places.' "

Indeed, the male yellowjacket may have been looking for a suitable mate.

This one? Definitely not suitable!