# Looks like a honey bee



## KQ6AR

I have some very large bees working my sunflowers. They look like a honey bee on growth hormones. A little smaller than a bumble bee.

The abdomen Is black & yellow striped.

Does anyone know what they are?

Dan


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## MapMan

KQ6AR said:


> I have some very large bees working my sunflowers. They look like a honey bee on growth hormones. A little smaller than a bumble bee.
> 
> The abdomen Is black & yellow striped.
> 
> Does anyone know what they are?
> 
> Dan



Any pictures? 

Interesting article on the number of bee species:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611135020.htm

MM


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## KQ6AR

I'll try, they don't sit very long. spend a lot of time fighting with the honey bees over the flowers. They can also carry a heavy load of pollen.

I noticed their wings are smaller proportionately than the honey bee.

Dan


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## dragonfly

Could be a species of bee-fly. I have several species of them here, and one of them looks almost exactly like a honeybee.


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## KQ6AR

Thanks,
I was looking at google images of bee flies. A couple of them are close, but I think the wings on most of the images are to large.
We tried to get a picture last night but the breeze was moving the sunflowers too much.

Dan


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## Gene O

Hi i'm seeing the same large look like a honey bee here in north east al. to on the sunflower also. dont know what it is.


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## KQ6AR

Maybe you can get a photo, I haven't had favorable conditions. I got 1 of the large bee & honey bee together, but it was too blurry. 

Dan


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## dragonfly

I have some photos at home (not home now) that I can link for you. They are beeflies that look like honeybees. Let me know and I can link them later.


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## KQ6AR

Just curious if Geno & I are talking about the same bee. We'll probably both have to get photo's of the ones we're seeing.

Dan


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## Gene O

Hi Dan will try to get photo soon been to bussy robby extracting and botling plus wind blew big limb off tre in my yard so had to cutup and remove and i'm 73 year old so it takes me a little longer to do tings. The bee you discribe is the same bee.


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## Dave Burrup

*Looks like a bee*

It is easy to seperate bee flies from true bees. Flies do not collect pollen, and they do not fold their wings along the back. Bees will fold their wings parallel to and, flat against their abdomen. Bee flies wings form a triangle. The degree of the protective mimicry in bee flies is amazing. They look like bees and buzz like bees.


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## Gene O

Guess i waited to long , can't find the bee has cleaned the sunflower good and moved on. will keep looking.


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## solitaryb

*Bee flies - a video*

Hello - thought I might contribute on the identification. 

I have some bee flies that have been active around a mud back (a pond I started digging last year) and I managed to catch them on video. As Dave Burrup says when resting, bee flies keep their wings 'out' in a triangular fashion. At 0:57 on the bee fly video on YouTube, I think this is visible. It was also fairly clear that these bees were stalking the ground bees that were making burrows there. Hope it is useful.

Paul.


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## Bluidshay

Are you totally sure it was a bee? We get clearwing hummingbird moths around here. We had one in the house when our daughter was a baby and boy, she still talks about the "giant bee that made mommy scream." Obviously, I'm ok with bees out in the yard, but this thing is much bigger than even a bumblebee and smacking into things in the house with an audible thump...well, when it smacked into my glasses was about my tipping point. I'm sure the neighbors heard.

Anyway, they actually gather nectar, and although they are called hummingbird moths they are yellow and black striped with clear wings and I think they look an awful lot like a bee. 

I'm not sure what I can post without possible copyright violations, so I recommend googling it.


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## solitaryb

I called them bee flies twice, then typing away I referred to them as 'bees' silly me. I think what I videoed and referred to may be _Bombylius major_ or similar.


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## dabeekeeper

My guess without seeing a photo for confirmation is a carpenter bee, they look like a junior version of a bumblbee. Normally they make thier nest in old woodpiles and in old deteriating tree stumps. We have a good number here in our part of Northern California.I am not sure why, maybe the wrong weather patterns or whatever but this part of the state has almost no true bumblebees. As for carpenter bees, they are really great pollinators and if you have them around they will round out the pollenating of your yard and neighborhood nicely.


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