People in the US seem to use "bee" for anything ranging from paper wasps to bumble bees and hornets.

Usually people in the US are pretty good about distinguishing between sinister wasps and friendly honeybees

In Japan they have the same casual name, though, which I find almost as disturbing as the occasional thumb-sized giant wasps in Tokyo

I’m not an expert, but it was about the size + hairiness that I associate with bees.