A bee of some sort

[Cindi]

There was a post somewhere here, some time ago, that was speaking about identification of a bee.  I think that it may have been about a bee that lived underground.  Wish I could remember who made the post, so I could put this picture in that post.

This bee that you see here lives in the ground, near our pool.  It is kind of a dry soil there, not like the rest of my property, which is rather more damp.  These bees are very small, but I have seen them covered in pollen.  They love to annoy people in the pool all the time.  They are always on the top of the water and pack a very small, but powerful sting, not nearly as bad as the honeybee, but you know you get a sting, because it kind of stings (what a word anyways).

This picture was taken on my fall aster around the first week of September, pretty little thing that it is.  Have that most wonderful and awesome day, love life, good health.  Cindi

[WayneW]

Hi Cindi,

Don't want to hijack your post, but where i work, there is an alley behind where we go to smoke. There are many aster clusters (white flat top) and plenty of goldenrod.

Being the beek that i am, i always go look closely at what bees are enjoying the plants. Lots of wasps and yellow jackets for certain, and plenty of bumbles and honeybees.

The other day, i noticed a very dark bee. not just dark, but actually black (without stripes). It was about the right size and shape for a honeybee, and she let me examine her rather closely. She was fuzzy like a honey bee, and looked just like my bees but again, all black and no stripes...... I think i read somewhere that russians??? tend to be dark........ could that have been what i saw? I wish i could have traced her back to her colony, would love to have a hive full of them, quite stunning actually.  :)

[bassman1977]

I have a hive that was a split from my carnolian hive.  Chances are pretty good that the queen mated with either an italian drone or a feral drone.  Anyway, the bees from this hive have no stripes and are predominately black.  My carnies are dark anyway.  Point is, it's hard to say if they are russian or not.  A hybrid I'm sure. I like black so I share your feelings about wanting to have a hive like this.

The other day, i noticed a very dark bee. not just dark, but actually black (without stripes). It was about the right size and shape for a honeybee, and she let me examine her rather closely. She was fuzzy like a honey bee, and looked just like my bees but again, all black and no stripes...... I think i read somewhere that russians??? tend to be dark........ could that have been what i saw? I wish i could have traced her back to her colony, would love to have a hive full of them, quite stunning actually.  Smiley

[WhipCityBeeMan]

Is it possible to zoom in on the bee and repost the picture? 

[Cindi]

Wayne, not sure.  I have noticed with my Carniolan colonies, that when the bees get really older, they don't appear to have any stripes left, so maybe just a breed of bees.

WhipCityBeeman.  I can't take another picture of that ground bee, or whatever it is, they are probably all in cluster underground or dead.  I don't know if they have lifespan like the honeybee, they may all perish as the cold weather is here.  Maybe next year.  Have that most wonderful, great day, Cindi

[gottabee]

Cindi,

Wow. Nice picture. No idea what it is. I was suprised to learn that there over 600 species of bees native to the US and Cinanada. Many are solitary and ground dwelling.