This is Not a Bumblebee

Tuesday, July 7, 2020,

This is not a bumblebee. To the uneducated eye – mine – it certainly looks like one. Just look at it. A chubby bee – at least I got that part right – with black and yellow markings. That’s a bumblebee, right? Well, no. Not in this case.

I had sent these photos to my friend Sue Avery. She’s the lady that allows me to sound intelligent when I describe flowers. I’ve mentioned her here before. Not only is she my go to source for flower identification, but she has her own blog, which is beautifully written. I am always in awe of her prose. Sue was able to ID this pretty flower as Bugleweed. It is not a native plant and can be an aggressive spreader. If I sound informed, it is only because I am quoting Sue. Without her help, this post may have been titled, “A Bee on Purple Flowers.”Β 

But wait, there’s more. Our story doesn’t end there. Three weeks ago, I had posted a pair of photos of a Yellow Jacket. I had posted them on Facebook as well as here. One of the commentators there was able to inform me of the exact species of Yellow Jacket I had managed to photograph. I was duly impressed, so much so that I sent her these photos to see if she could identify what kind of bee I had here. As it turns out, Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann is a professional entomologist and more than knows her stuff. She was able to explain to me that this was no bumblebee. Instead it is a male Carpenter Bee. Its white face is the main field mark that identifies this as a male. The female Carpenter Bees do not wear white makeup.

If I sound the least bit informed, it is only because I have folks like Jody and Sue helping me out. Honest. JK.

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5 thoughts on “This is Not a Bumblebee

  1. That’s the Bee-52 bee! πŸ™‚ A chubby slow moving humming bundle of yellow and black delight! I like them. They hang around and leave me piles of sawdust, although they don’t seem to do much harm in the process. Nice shots!

  2. It’s great to have friends to keep you honest – and you know I LOVE the details. Great shots, Joe!

  3. Thanks Jane. I am indeed lucky to have such friends. Some of the people who have helped me over the years are people I’ve never actually met in person including Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, who I only just recently became acquainted with through Facebook. JK.

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