Wildlife Wednesday - The Buzz Around the Estes Valley

By Andy Ames

There is a whole lot of buzz around the Estes Valley these days. Bees are busy, flies are flying, and wasps are…..wasping? Telling one from another can often be confusing. Some flies look like bees, bees like wasps, and wasps like bees. Though difficult to tell, flies have one set of wings, while bees and wasps have two pairs. When they land, the wings of flies often lie flat. Flies also have very short to nonexistent antennae and lack the bushy hairs on their hind legs. As we learned last week, wasps, like Yellowjackets, are predators and hunt insects to feed to their young. Instead of hairs, wasps have spines on their legs to help bring prey back to their nest. Bees are wasps that have evolved to feed pollen to their young and usually have hairs on their legs or bellies to carry pollen. There are exceptions to each rule so positive identification can be tricky.

The best time to observe bees and flies is on a warm day with little wind. Find a patch of flowers bees like and settle down. Try not to cast a shadow over the flowers or stand too close. Bees can be very sensitive and are easily scared away.

With their musky fragrance it is more common to see flies on yarrow flowers. This one is visited by a bumblebee, however.

Large eyes, short antennae, and smooth legs, this is a fly with unusual markings.

Scopae are specialized hairs found on bees to collect pollen. This species collects pollen on its belly hairs.

Some fly species can be hairy like bees.

A very large bumblebee on a beebalm, or bergamot flower. Instead of scopae, bumblebees carry pollen in corbiculae, or “pollen baskets” on their hind legs.

Bee with a heavy load of pollen on its scopae, or hairs on its hind legs.