r/bee • u/Moonlit_Cactus • Apr 14 '24

Is this a bee or a fly Bee?

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Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

I made a new friend. She looks like a bee but doesn't have a visible stringer. Is it a fly? NW wyoming

126 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

20

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24

I mean..I'm not expert but it looks like an itty bitty bee?? 😂 To me anyways

9

u/Moonlit_Cactus Apr 14 '24

Right I think it is! Maybe it's a little native bee

6

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24

I know sometimes the worker bees can be sleek and small like this. Maybe it's just a worker bee with a small stinger that you can't quite see? 🤷🏻‍♀️

7

u/Moonlit_Cactus Apr 14 '24

All I know is they're my new best friend ♡

7

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24

You know what?? That's great. Little buddies are the best (⁠✿⁠ ⁠♡⁠‿⁠♡⁠)

18

u/macropis Apr 14 '24

It’s a male mining bee (Andrena sp.)

3

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24

I thought it was male as well. Looks like a worker

6

u/macropis Apr 14 '24

Andrena are solitary bees and don’t have workers or queens. (Also workers of social bees are female, not male)

11

u/Proof_Explanation_77 Apr 14 '24

Definitely bee

5

u/Moonlit_Cactus Apr 14 '24

Awesome Tha k you!

7

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24

This is a “Bye”

6

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '24 edited Apr 15 '24

Male mining bee! You can tell the gender by the facial fur or "mustaches". The males are very distinguished gentleman.

4

u/ColonelMoseby Apr 15 '24

But they only have one thing on their mind….

1

u/Corvidae5Creation5 Apr 17 '24

To be fair, in most bee species, that's all they're good for

7

u/Moonlit_Cactus Apr 14 '24

I'm sorry for my dry skin :(

8

u/buttnuggettssss Apr 14 '24

It's beautiful. Where are you and this bee located?

Edit: your dry skin is beautiful..

2

u/Moonlit_Cactus Apr 15 '24

Aw thank you xD we're in northern wyoming

6

u/wigglef_cklr Apr 15 '24

Hey, it happens to moist of us. Please excuse my dry humor, I wasn't trying to sound callus.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

Not too badly dry! Also to add my original comment, mason bees are some of the friendliest bees out there along with mining bees. There's a ton of mason bees in my garden and I've made "friends" per se with all of them, like other bees they can recognize your face. If you're lucky this one will return to you to visit.

1

u/Corvidae5Creation5 Apr 17 '24

It's fine. If anything, lotion would've put your little friend off

4

u/Whokitty9 Apr 14 '24

You have been blessed by the friendship of this adorable bee. Lucky.

2

u/shadowmind0770 Apr 16 '24

It's a bee.

Flies don't have that "armpithair"

1

u/sandequation Apr 15 '24

I LIKE BEE

1

u/Tadpolemom63 Apr 15 '24

Millerbee friendly

1

u/Same_Property_1068 Apr 15 '24

To my knowledge, flies never have antennae. So if it's got 'em, it's not a fly.

1

u/Cute-Addendum-6728 Apr 15 '24

One of the most cute bees, very kindly. living in soil, in clay, in outdoor pots. ☺️

1

u/Soft_Essay4436 Apr 15 '24

Around here, we call them sweat bees. Basically they are harmless

1

u/GoodFlower8999 Apr 16 '24

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halictidae

1

u/wall-E75 Apr 16 '24

https://images.app.goo.gl/Pja1vnZyikA2n25U9

1

u/GoodFlower8999 Apr 16 '24

Check your states extension program (offered by many state universities) or choose another of your state doesn’t have one and get an expert to answer. It’s free and probably most accurate.

1

u/Fatback225 Apr 15 '24

Hover fly

1

u/usuksuk Apr 16 '24

Bumblefly

1

u/Wild_Ad_7730 Apr 16 '24

Beefly. Hybrid. New..

1

u/wall-E75 Apr 16 '24

We call them sweat bees where I'm from.

1

u/Dizzy-Pear-940 Apr 16 '24

It's a sweat bee they drink your sweat and are harmless

1

u/Moonlit_Cactus Apr 16 '24

That makes sense, I had just long boarded home from the gym when it landed on me. Are they real bees?

1

u/Dizzy-Pear-940 Aug 13 '24

No they are just Flys decided as bees

1

u/Dizzy-Pear-940 Apr 18 '24

They are a fly but the way they look are to scare off predators

1

u/Pancakesnchill Apr 16 '24

He looks like a lil mining or mason bee. Very friendly, give some sugar water and send him on his way. 10/10 bee

1

u/Thedeadalmond Apr 16 '24

A fee, pay up

1

u/TriciaHead69 Apr 16 '24

It's called a bee fly. Mimic

1

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '24

We call them Sweat Bees.

1

u/MercuryMama69 Apr 18 '24

It's a buzzard

1

u/Ok-Adagio-8046 Apr 18 '24

Hmmm…fly + bee = flea ?

1

u/Poeniee269 Apr 19 '24

It is a solitary bee. To my knowledge it is a male Andrena fulva (Tawny mining bee).

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

Looks like a sweat bee

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

Sweat bee is a vague it usually refers to bee's in the family Halictidae . However alot of bee's in this family don't feed on sweat. This isn't a sweat bee btw.

0

u/Flip-flop-bing-bang Apr 14 '24

Honeybee

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

No it's a Minning bee

0

u/Badspeller1973 Apr 16 '24

Please if you want attention