Ah, time for some grilling.

But what’s up with this bee helping herself to my burger?

Shouldn’t she be off pollinating something?

She’s often called a ‘meat bee,’  but she’s not a bee at all.

She’s a western yellowjacket - a type of wasp.

You can tell her apart from a bee  because she’s a little bit less hairy.

Right now this yellowjacket is  on a hunt for tasty protein.

And she’ll have what you’re having.

But first she does a little quality control.

Sensors on her mouthparts and antennae  help her judge the food’s condition.

She slices off a chunk with  scissor-like mandibles.

But she doesn’t actually eat this fine fare.

Mature yellowjackets like her don’t   need the protein themselves.

So she rolls it up into a meatball,   using her forelegs and mandibles.

And takes that burger to go.

Flying it back to her underground nest.

And she does it all for these cuties.

Yellowjacket larvae need protein to  develop.

And they like meatballs.

All that gathering food and flying around  gives our adult yellowjacket an appetite.

She prods the youngsters and they offer   their thanks in the form of a  sugary throw up, or exudate.

The adults slurp that up and jet  off on more meatball missions.

And yellowjackets bring back all  kinds of interesting entrees.

Ever tried moth wings?

Cockroach croquettes?

As these yellowjackets   make mouse tartare for their babies, they  can clean a carcass down to the bone!

And that’s an important service.

I mean, would you want to clean this up?

To help fuel their frequent flying, they  stop at flowers, downing sugary nectar   and pollinating as they go.

But what about that sting?

Unlike her bee cousins, she  can sting again and again.

But it’s a last resort when  she or her nest is threatened.

So give them some space!

And try to remember the good she   does as a scavenger, a pollinator  and a provider for her colony.