Quote:
Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour
The big orange blotches on the rump (do bees have rumps?) are quite common. I see it all the time. I'm not sure whether it's pollen or simply a colour variation of the bumblebee.
(BTW bumblebees and honeybees are not the same, bumblebees are the big ones and don't have large nests. Bumblebee colonies are quite small. According to wikipedia, the orange is a colour variation)
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Ah, from the rest of the posts I figured we were all talking about the usual honeybees. If they're bumblebees with red/orange, they're most likely
Tricolored Bumblebees (Bombus ternarius). Fairly common throughout NA, and I've noticed they seem to be concentrated in certain areas. They're about the only kind I ever see at my father-in-law's place out in a heavy agriculture area, but only ever see a few around town (though there was at least one resident in my garden this spring).