what bombus?

[anniekat]

have seen 2 of these black bees feeding solely on physostegia flowers in the garden. i have also seen a similar sized bee with 2 yellow stripes on the thorax and 1 on the abdo - also feeding on the same flowers. any ideas? eureka - i've done it!

[Matt Smith]

As it's all black it's a bit difficult to say, particularly as it's hiding in a flower. Going by your comments about the other bees, best guess from the overall "jiz" is either a male B.hortorum or possibly B.ruderatus.

[anniekat]

here's an out of focus face pic of the same bee.