# Really Black Bees



## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

Are they a carpenter bee of some sort?


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## Barry Digman (May 21, 2003)

George Fergusson said:


> Are they a carpenter bee of some sort?


I don't think so. They were the size of "regular" honeybees. Very, very dark, but you could see bands. The bush is incredibly fragrant right now, and there were at least 8 different bees/wasps/hornets/flies on the blossoms.


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## russbee (Mar 6, 2007)

it looks like a leafcutter bee.


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## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

Ah leafcutter bee, that's what I was thinking of.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

How big are them compared to a honey bee?


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## tim (May 26, 2000)

It looks like a Mason Bee.


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## Barry Digman (May 21, 2003)

Michael Bush said:


> How big are them compared to a honey bee?


They are the same size as a honey bee, some of them seemed a little more "bulldoggy" in that they were a bit wider. Now that I've looked back at my photos, I'm not sure I got the right ones. There were several bees on the bush, but the wind was blowing and they were fast so I was clicking away at every one of them. I'm going to try and get better shots of the really black ones that definately look like honey bees when the wind dies down.


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

Interesting bees. 

Cool church sign too!


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

My hives are full of the black with gold bands bees. The orchard bees that I see have an almost greenish tint to the black, kind of like an oil sheen on water. The orchard bees are shorter and stockier too. The black with gold bands bees are resident in most of my hives, some more than others.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/blackbees.jpg


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## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

If they are about the same size as honeybees they are not mason bees, we have a lot of them pollinate our blueberries and they are much smaller. I agree with russbee they look like leafcutter bees, and their behavior sounds right they dart around faster than honeybees.


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