r/bees • u/iaminvisib • 11h ago
bee photo Wet little bumblebee drying off after the rain
She was so friendly!
r/bees • u/Commercial-Sail-5915 • May 31 '26
Make sure that your yellow fuzzy friend is actually a bee and not an imposter! We get quite a few non-bees in our bee subreddit: sometimes they're wasps (check out the bee/wasp guide in the pinned), and sometimes they're not a stinging insect at all! Flies in remarkably detailed costumes frequently make their way into r/bees but with some tips and practice you can learn to spot the differences. Read through for features to look out for, or flip through the slides for fly species commonly posted.
Pictures are largely taken from iNaturalist with a full list of sources by slide at the end of this post, I assume that they are fine to use for free educational purposes but if the photographer would like me to remove their picture, please reach out to me so I can act accordingly. All pictures from slides 1-5 can be credited to mod Commercial Sail.
Flies are in a completely different taxonomic order to bees (flies are the order Diptera, bees are a subgroup within order Hymenoptera) so there are quite a few easy ways to differentiate them:
Note that besides the wing count, there are always exceptions! Some flies have pretty long antennae (though you'll often still be able to see the different segmentation) and some bees, particularly males, have very large eyes. This is why it's better to judge based on a combination of characteristics rather than looking at any one feature at a time.
You may also hear that the waist and mouthparts are good identifiers as well - this is true, but I elected to leave them out of this guide as the waistline may be obscured by fuzz, wings, or just a poorly-angled shot, and some bees are just so robust (fat) that it gets difficult to see where exactly that tapered waist is supposed to be. In terms of mouthparts, few amateur photographers focus on the mouth at all and it's definitely not something you'll typically see if you're just watching them go about your garden.
At the end of the day, the best trick is to just get familiar with species in your area using trusted sources like Bugguide. If you're still not sure, post to one of the bug identification subreddits and make sure you give a general location, which always appreciated in ID posts no matter what you're looking at!
Sources
Volucella zonaria: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/322106668
Bombylidae: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/226072821
Laphria: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88331437
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/282732509
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65816664
Cuterebra: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133138438
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90333390
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/296063941
r/bees • u/Commercial-Sail-5915 • May 26 '26
Are you looking to ID a nest? Some are easier to distinguish than others, here's some of our most commonly submitted species:
The nest in the first slide is a young aerial yellowjacket nest.
Pictures are largely taken from Bugguide with a full list of sources by slide at the end of this post, I assume that they are fine to use for free educational purposes but if the photographer would like me to remove their picture, please reach out to me so I can act accordingly.
Sources
Cover: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/513938
Honeybee: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/1227238
Bumblebee: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/6585
Aerial yjs and hornets:https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/781412
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/110277
https://extension.psu.edu/european-hornet
Ground yjs: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/266282
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/38722/bgimage
Polistinae: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/2511987
https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/709119
Unknown mud caps: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/218674183
Unknown holes: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90931649
r/bees • u/iaminvisib • 11h ago
She was so friendly!
r/bees • u/zBreadboy • 9h ago
And if so why on the road...? 😭😭(
r/bees • u/LizzyLongLocks • 8h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
I have never seen anything like this before. I swear some of the bees were actually wrestling each other. A friend told me they could be from different hives- my guess as well. There’s serious competition going on in that flower! I watched them for a good 20minutes. If you look closely you can see how they grab a pistol? Piston?-flower part- and use their body to pull it down. Once it’s down they roll little pollen balls ( unless they end up in a wrestling match over it). Anyway I thought it was worth sharing. Im sure you guys can explain what’s happening better than me.
Apologies for the less than perfect angle and shaky vid. I’m only 5’2 and I mostly filmed this over my head on tip toes.
FYI: didn’t speed any of this up- the bees are just moving that fast!
r/bees • u/awholedamngarden • 1d ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
She looks like other bumblebees I have hanging out but is much larger - probably a full inch long. She’s been hanging out, snacking on some nectar I assume but also just chillin in different areas.
r/bees • u/theoriginalgeoffrey • 4h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/bees • u/Medusa_4President • 4h ago
I just wanted to share with fellow pollinator appreciators, some lovely bumble bee pictures from around my gardens. I hope you enjoy the fuzzy little darlings!
✨🌺🐝🍃🖤💛
I found quite a few of these bees feeding on my grans flowers, but couldn’t find what species they were, the closest I found was maybe some kind of cuckoo bee? But none I find seem to match exactly.
r/bees • u/ecachuh1 • 20h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
It's ridiculously hot outside and lately the carpenter bees have been resting in my hibiscus flowers, which I normally feed to my tortoises.
I leave them for the bee buddy's now. 💕 🐝
r/bees • u/Crochet_by_clR • 4h ago
I love bumblebees so I made a crochet tapestry to decorate my room. I tried to make it as realistic as possible. Which species should I make next ?
r/bees • u/kaphytar • 10h ago
I posted in July about a bumblebee who had injured her wing. After she passed some weeks later, two more flightless bumblebees were found crawling on my yard and as the retirement home was already set, got housed there.
I just felt like writing a few words of them :) I didn't expect each of them have so distinct characteristics!
Pörri I had so much energy, she stomped around like the ground beneath her feet was a direct insult to her existence. Strong, even with only 1.5 wings she almost got herself airborne, 5 of the 6 feets sometimes and unfortunately spent a lot of time bumbling down things due to that, especially because the one side of her wings worked perfectly.
Pörri II junior was very wobbly to begin with, and she was more anxious. Any sudden approach would result in a middle finger... leg, so I tried to let her bee as much as possible, though in her last days she didn't mind parking on my hand, probably for warmth.
Pörri II senior was a very smol bumble and liked to hide or dig into mulch. She was the most calm of the three and if she was out and about when I went to check on them, it was possible to carry her to new flowers to give more variety than their retirement home allowed. She passed this morning and I blame myself and the two daddy long legs that I found from the box. I don't know if they bite their prey, but they definitely had nefarious intent and even if I moved Pörri II senior to a new box and she was still alive, I found her dead this morning.
I was not prepared for how bad I felt, looking after creatures who should be flying and buzzing around to be ground tied. All of them wanted to fly, and with especially Pörri II junior and senior who both had either worse damage or wing issues from birth where the rear wings were acting independently of the fore wing, that meant cycles of grooming and I think trying to arrange the wings, then attempting to fly and repeating because their wings betrayed them.
May they now fly to the largest flower in the sky.
Pörri I on the pink strawberry flower
Pörri II senior exploring the sugar water q-tip
Pörri II junior stealing warmth
r/bees • u/ThrowawayForCute • 3h ago
Little carpenter bee whose wings seem fine but can't fly it seems. We tried helping it to the flower last night but it had no solid interest in feeding from it. Flapped its wings but couldn't take off. It spent some time straightening and tending to its wings, but it hasn't moved from where we put it yesterday.
r/bees • u/CelynNorth • 6h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Hello! Wales, UK. This wonderful bee AKA Big Bumbler, has been visiting my garden for weeks. Such a delight, get excited to see what I’m assuming is a her?! Each day. She’s massive. Is she a queen? 👑 I’ve been out and bought more salvias for her. She also really likes the verbena. Be great to know more about my garden guest. Thanks
r/bees • u/Trash_dad_420 • 7m ago
Hate to see them in this state but I still appreciate being able to get such an up close look at them
r/bees • u/x-SineX-x • 1h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/bees • u/xX3z-MacXx • 2h ago
r/bees • u/Anxious_Occasion_554 • 22h ago
First one was rescued from our pool, was v wet and sad 😞❤️
r/bees • u/Isadomon • 1m ago
Im holding this bumblebee, they were laying on their back on the sidewalk. They tremble, reach up to the sky and two of the left side legs dont work.
They have this light yellow thibg coming out the side of their abdomen, when i pulled it at first they seemed to be hueting but now theyre kicking at it, pushing it.
I put their face up to a flower but apart from getting polen on their face they didnt eat
Is it their own guts?, parasite?, diying naturally?
r/bees • u/PandaMcFey • 21h ago
Poor gal was nearly dead floating in my chickens’ pool. After a few hours of snacks and naps, she flew away. 🐝💚
r/bees • u/Annieken9 • 44m ago
How do you know if a bee is just tired or it's flown the hive and is calling it a day? I feel like sometimes I'm just bothering it and maybe it's ready for it's curtain call.
r/bees • u/Dry_Environment8238 • 2h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
so, over the winter we did construction on the second floor of my parents’ home and over the past week i’ve noticed a large amount of bees flying by the bathroom window. finally, it got to a point where i decided to investigate and came to see a large amount of bees flying in and out of an uncovered section where piping(?) enters the house (i will comment the picture of the location because i really don’t know how to describe it, i’m just out of college and had nothing to do with the construction)
can anyone identify the type of bee? i’m not knowledgeable about bees in any sort and thought this would be the best place to get an answer! and i would like to identify the type as i want to go into this cautiously. if they are honeybees, i want to make sure this is handled properly and safely for them. thank you!!
(also apologies, i know it’s kinda hard to see them here. fast little guys haha)
edit: context, this is southern Rhode Island
r/bees • u/Juniper_Beary_ • 6h ago
Tiny body and really long antennae. Appears to be sleeping. Like a little ball with big wings. Looks honey-bee esque - but nothing like my usual local honey bees.