Large bee for ID

tigger · #1 (**permalink**) 08-09-2009, 10:24 PM

Hi. Wondered if this could be an Andrena sp? poss Andrena flavipes? Thanks. Jane

eucera · #2 (**permalink**) 08-09-2009, 10:42 PM

Good old Apis!

tigger · #3 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 06:19 AM

Thanks eucera.

Oh damnations! Just when I thought I was getting the hang of this bee lark! I compared it to the other Apis mellifera (honey bees) in the garden, and it just didn't look like them.... I was looking for the orange stripe...

Was this a drone (below) and the other (above) a worker?

Looking at the first pic, I can now see that it has a long marginal cell in the wing - almost reaching to the wing tip - live and learn!

eucera · #4 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 08:33 AM

all workers. There are a lot of different strains of honey bee, and the colour can be very variable.

tigger · #5 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 08:40 AM

Learning, learning, learning - headache!

JRsbugs · #6 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 11:24 AM

Funny enough I had one last year visiting my Sedum which looked like yours, it seemed much smaller than usual but in the end I came to the conclusion it was A. millifera. I only got a distant shot, in your pic you can see the hairs on the eyes. Tricky indeed!

Janet

tigger · #7 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 01:59 PM

Hairy eyes! That can't be comfortable. Thanks Janet

Beekeeper · #8 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 06:12 PM

Just out of interest, a while ago i crossbread some honey bees from different colonies, most were more or less the same as the rest, however one nucleus colony started producing bees which had hardly any discernable marking, the one thing that really stood out was the colour of the abdomen, it was a pale grey, most unusual.

The bees also were lovely tempered and hard working but sadly died out due to poor resistance to disease so another failure, at the end of the day, no matter what bees are imported for the purposes of cross breeding, they all inevitably end up the same due to the mating process which is generally carried out on the wing.

The original "Mile High Club"

BK

tigger · #9 (**permalink**) 09-09-2009, 08:01 PM

Thanks Beekeeper. Really interesting. Don't suppose you managed to get any pictures of your grey abdomened bees before they died out?

Jane

Beekeeper · #10 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 06:55 PM

No Jane, i didnt think of it at the time, maybe if i can produce another interesting cross in the future i will do so and upload the pictures here.

Regards

BK (Ian)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigger