Return of the Bee!

pleased they are back (bee)... all types much needed in gardens...
you must be pleased... like that you have captured many hover flies...

Jane!

Hurray! They are back.

Jane, it's difficult to get a shot without hoverflies at the moment, they are everywhere!
Klahanie, I was so pleased - did a double take, then ran in the house for my camera!

Beautiful photo - glad you made it in time!

the other way around in my garden... have loads butterflies bees even the Red Tailed Bumblebee but not so many hover-flies....

those red tails glow :) beautiful.....

Pleased the swarm has returned for you!
Do you know where they're nesting?

Not in my garden this year Mouldy. Size of this one may well be a queen - wrong markings for a male and too big for a worker. Fingers crossed she's back to nest for winter.

I only know the ones visiting my garden, all the same size, but was unaware of different markings for males.
No queens, though.
They can be quite territorial over the choccy cosmos. Lol.

Males have yellow markings on the thorax (nearest the head). Queens 20-22mm (almost 1 inch in old money) and workers 11-16mm. If no yellow then they are liable to be workers.
The bees can get quite aggressive at this time of year - new queens need to mate....you know the rest ;)

We're talking about them fighting other species, since about late May, early June.
They've often just sat on the cosmos, sometimes feeling the stamen, but more often standing, sort of spaced out for ten or more minutes, before going about their business, yet ready to turn & chase off any interloper.
This only happens with the cosmos!
They all fight over the flowers.
Now, this is going to sound even stranger, but, at a rough guess, they've all been around the one inch ( in excess of 20cms, in other words) mark.
Next time I take a snap of one I'll put the last phalanx of my pinkie into shot, so you can see for yourself.
Surely they aren't all queens?
Maybe they're bigger on the west coast?
I'll keep an eye out for thorax (betwixt head & abdomen) markings, too. Lol.