Confusing pollen mark on worker

[eivindm]

I was looking for my queen the other day.  I thought I had found her with her yellow mark on her back, but she was really to small to be a queen.  I thought it might be pollen, so I tried to gently scratch it off, but it wouldn't come off, although it surely was pollen.  I later found the queen. Her mark has got smaller this summer.  Not as large as it was in the spring.

Here is a comaparisment of the two:

(click to enlarge)

I laughed of the thought of having a lot of bees with the same spot on the back in the hive.  It would be fun to find the queen then :-)

I found a bee with almost the exact same spot in my other hive aswell :-)

[annette]

They are playing a joke on you. Yes it would be hilarious if all the workers decided to put on a yellow mark.

Annette

[Frantz]

Wow, I know that these ladies are smart and all, but that is a little spooky. Next thing they are going to dress up in a bee suit and veil to make us think that we have already checked the bees and we will turn around and go home.
F

[SgtMaj]

Worker #30673, just because you can dress like the queen doesn't mean you get to lay around the hive and do nothing all day.  Now get back to work!   :-D

[suprstakr]

Your mark is probably from the orchid family , they leave the polen on top of the insect.

[Scadsobees]

I've noticed too that Liatris leaves a mark similar to that on the back, maybe not quite so yellow.  None of my queens have been foraging on liatris, so I don't have to worry about matching marks.  ;)

[octagon]

I have many bees comming into one of the hives with yellow-white stuff on thier backs that looks like pollen.