Summer is here and millions of children and adults are taking to the outdoors to play and have a good time. But be careful, your fun afternoon of exploring new places might just get you on the wrong side of a wasp, hornet or bee hive.

Wasps, bees and hornets build hives that can contain thousands of insects in such places as over hangs, old buildings, abandoned equipment or just about anywhere they feel safe and protected from predators. While most of these insects won't attack humans for fun, they will attack enmasse in a swarm if they feel threatened.

Honey bees are one of the most well-known, popular and economically beneficial insects. For thousands of years, man has plundered honey bee colonies to get honey, bee larvae, and beeswax. In recent decades, bee plundering has given way to bee management. Now, honey bees are commonly kept in artificial hives throughout the United States. A large and sophisticated beekeeping industry provides valuable honey, beeswax and pollination services. Although many people make a living from bees, most beekeepers are hobbyists who have only a few hives.

The stinging, flying insects of North America can be roughly divided in five categories - Paper Wasps, Hornets, Yellowjackets, Solitary Wasps and Bees. The first three build paper nests out of chewed vegetation, the solitaries usually live in the ground or in mud nests and bees live in hives located in various places - from hollow trees to man-made boxes. Most are predators and scavengers, with the exception of some bees that are "vegetarians".