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Bee identification

Hi,
Last year we had a lots of tree bumble bee's coming and going from somewhere in our out-house. This year there seems to be different ones and i wondered if anyone knew any easy way of telling the difference between a honey bee and a solitary bee as I understand they look similar to the untrained eye? Not sure if this provides a clue but we've found a few dead/dying ones on the ground outside (which I understand is normal as these will be worker bees?).
Any help would be appreciated!
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The trouble I have with IDing bees is that they won't stay still while I line them up with a picture
In the sticks near Peterborough
Honeybee is a dark brown looking wasp. Solitary bees are too numerous to be worth bothering with an ID. The rest will likely bee
Buff/White tailed, Red Tailed and a few carder bees.
The Field Studies Council do a nice fold-out ID card for bee ID, you can get them direct from the FSC or from Amazon (not expensive).
http://www.field-studies-council.org/publications/pubs/guide-to-bees-of-britain.aspx