As a fun note, if you pop the photo out and zoom in, you can see that its head looks a bit like a helmet with a narrow neck going into it.
This bee was big/beefy. If any of you know what species it might have been, chime in. If it helps, I'm in SE MI.
If the butt is fuzzy it's a bumblebee. This one isn't so it's a carpenter bee. I have a theo8that most people that see carpenter bees actually call them bumblebees.
Thanks for the hint. I assumed carpenter bees were a single ginus, but it sounds like it's a bit of an umbrella?
Yes, it seems like there are hundreds of types based on a quick search. Bumble bees aren't under that umbrella though. It's just that they look pretty similar.
My guess would be Eastern Carpenter Bee, but I am not a bee-ologist. I just looked up bees in michigan and compared photos. The eastern carpenter looks the most similar to me.
Thanks! I had read that carpenter bees don't have fuzzy butts but thought they were smaller than this one was. TIL that there is a verity of carpenter bees out there.
Nice shot
Thanks!
For the bees! And their buzzy little bums.