CLOSED: Bumble bee, very LARGE and differentthe queen?

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troutlule Hot Springs, VA Sep 02, 2008

Have bumble bees all over my flowers, but this one is very different as it was as
large as a horsefly and as dark.
It crawled all over the monarda, pulling the tubes down and using some sort of
hard front stinger (see how little I know!) to pierce the tubes.
I took about 60 photos, snapping as the bee went round and round the monarda
pulling each tube down on about 4 plants.
Is it a regular bumble bee? Is it the queen? Or is it some different sort of bumble?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Photo shot in Hot Springs, VA 24445, on Sept. 1 at 4:30 p.m.

I can post other photos of it in action if anyone would like to see it. Thank you.

This message was edited Sep 2, 2008 2:06 AM

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troutlule Hot Springs, VA Sep 02, 2008

Here it is pulling down a nectar tube and piercing it.

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troutlule Hot Springs, VA Sep 02, 2008

Here it is grabbing the tube with all its legs

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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Sep 02, 2008

This specimen resembles Bombus impatiens - see http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/50328688
The behavior you witnessed is known as nectar robbing, in which the bee chews through the base of the flower to obtain nectar without pollinating the flower - see http://www.bumblebee.org/foraging.htm

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cedar18 Lula, GA(Zone 7b) Sep 02, 2008

suunto - thanks so much for the info. I saw bees nectar robbing my crocosmia - flower after flower. I didn't know what to make of this behavior, and now I do. I love having the knowledge. :)

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troutlule Hot Springs, VA Sep 02, 2008

WOW! Thank you suunto very much for the information.
I had never heard of such behavior. So cool; so bad, too.
Thank you for solving this mystery!

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troutlule Hot Springs, VA Sep 19, 2008

I had this identified by the Virginia state apiarist who said this is a carpenter bee and a male one.

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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Sep 20, 2008

The apiarist is correct, and I am deeply embarrassed - I can't believe that I overlooked the smooth abdomen of your specimen. Aaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!

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kniphofia Cramlington, United Kingdom(Zone 8a) Sep 20, 2008

Great shots!

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MSeagle Meridian, MS(Zone 8a) Sep 30, 2008

I was about to say that looks an awful lot like the carpenter bees that are taking over my Hummingbird vine on my porch. The bees chase off the hummingbirds and pierce the flowers before they even open!

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