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black-bee-

wallflower2wallflower2 Posts: 6
in Wildlife gardening

l saw a black bee in my garden the other day on the rubeckia it was truly black never seen a black bee before anyone know the name of it ?

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    There are quite a few solitary and bumble bees which can be all black.  Amongst them are:

    Solitary: Anthophora plumipes (Hairy footed flower bee)

    Bumble: Bombus Campestris (Field cuckoo bee - uncommon all-black form, probably male), Bombus Hortorum (rare all black form), B.Ruderatus (uncommon black form, likely a worker or queen)

    Honey: Black honey bee (extremely rare - usually found only in Cornwall)

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • HaisieHaisie Posts: 108

    Can I ask someone about a type of bee, please? I have lots of very small bee-like insects which love my dahlias. Are they true bees or something else?

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    Hi Janet, could they be hoverflies?

    http://syrphidae.3644.co.uk/

    http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay07/cd-hoverflies.html

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • HaisieHaisie Posts: 108

    Wow! Thanks, they are - I have lots of them.

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    Hoverflies are the a gardeners friend.  Many of them and their lavae eat aphids, one of our arch-enemies!image

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • HaisieHaisie Posts: 108

    Thanks, BTG, I've read up on them now - daft that I didn't know what they were. They are so lovely mixed in with the other insects loving my white dahlia - they leave the pink one totally alone. First time for growing dahlias and the insects love them.

  • wallflower2wallflower2 Posts: 6

    thank you Bob the gardener for infomation about the bee ,l have since found out that it is a rare one as there was a item on the local news some days after spotting it ,and is extreamly rare .

     

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