Bee identification

I came across this great resource for identifying bees recently, it would be a lovely way to spend time with kids to pass the day!

https://pollinators.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Crash-course-in-bumblebee-identification_2018.pdf

I had a go yesterday to identify some in my garden.

Bumbus lucorum I think?



And I have a feeling this might be a native honeybee with their nests.

Multipass

The second picture is a hoverfly, not a bee. Note the short antennae and big eyes, a bee would have the opposite. The burrows could well be mining bees, you’ll have to stalk them and try for a photo.

Alun

The holes could also be bumble bee burrows I think, not honey bees anyway.

Thanks for the advice. Definitely not bumble bee holes I’ve been watching them, what’s coming out looks similar to the one on the dandelion. I must get a closer look tomorrow!

Did a little more investigating today and found these little guys coming out of the holes. They’re not as big or fat as queen bumblebees. I’m guessing a kind of solitary bee? The thorax is all ginger, shiny black abdomen with stripes of fur and very distinct pollen baskets on their legs.
Any suggestions what they could bee? Pun intended :pac:



The abdomen is shiny although that hasn’t come out in the photo as it was taken in shade.

Tiercel Dave

They are some form of Mining Bee, possibly Andrena bicolor.....

deise08

Sorry for reviving an old thread. I've no pictures, because by the time I got my phone, the bee had flown away.
The only way I can describe what I saw was a bee/wasp hybrid. I know that's not what it was. But if you can imagine a bumblebee with a wasp abdomen.
A furry blonde bee with the markings of a wasp with the abdomen.
Any description I Google doesn't match with what I saw, any pictures are bees I'd recognise.

I've never seen anything like this pretty little bee before. Any ideas?

Sorry for the not so great description.