Black Bee??

[flump1]

I have a great big creature flying around my utility room right now and I am too afraid to go close enough to it to get a picture, !!! so , is there such a thing as a black bee? It sounds and looks like a bumble bee but it is bigger and has no stripes,just a red underneath, Help !!! I need to know if I have to call out reinforcements to remove the thing and it would help if I had an idea of its' identity , thanks .

[caz21]

I know this sounds daft but it might be a overgrown housefly?? it sounds mighty gross! i've seen some pretty big ugly flies in my time thats all and they do sound like bees, although never heard of a red bellied housefly! Sorry i cant help anymore, if i were you i'd swat it with a newspaper!!

[Danni79]

Its more than likely a May Bug, they are pretty scary if you haven't seen one before, they come at you like mini helicopters and always seem to fly towards your head!!! they are kinda harmless though they are just large beetles, they can nip but its quite rare :-) x x

[Danni79]

Another name for the may bug by the way is a 'cockchafer' (no comments from me!!!) x

[Danni79]

http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11e(12).htm

[flump1]

no not identified it yet I am afraid, thanks for your help. It is a bee ,lovely 'fluffy ' body sounds like a bee,just too big !!

[Danni79]

I just looked back at my replies and I sould like a beetle freak!!! LOL

I am not an obsessed bug girl - my mother just happen to be scared half to death of May bugs its a result of days of fact finding to convince her to leave the house during May!!!

good luck with the ID parade!!! x x x

[alfiebrady]

I've seen bumblebees with minimal amounts of yellow, but not totally black. Could bee!

Sorry. Ahem. If it's just bumbling about, I'd just leave the window open, and it'll bumble it's way out eventually.

[Thunderbird+]

It could be a carpenter bee, that one is black and about the right size. If you can get to a window and open it it should fly out. Good Luck.

[nickmo]

Field ****** bees are just about all black. See last name on link and click photo: http://www.brisc.org.uk/bbck.php and see: http://www.bumblebee.org/uncommonSp.htm which has a good set of illustrations inc of some less common bees. Carpenter bees do seem to keep cropping up a lot as well as above.

Queens of b/bees can also have a darker colouring than normal species and tend to be larger. You can get the occasional genetic variation, so it may be a yellow tailed bee without the yellow. Or just a new species.....get onto the Natural History Museum site as they also have info on bees to see.

[Ward-Minter]

Are you sure it is not a Robin?

[Cetti]

Does it look anything like this flump?

If it does then it's a Red-Tailed Bumblebee.

[SaxyJag]

Just a point - a friend of mine used to keep bees. He said that the blacker they were then (sorry) the more vicious they tend to be, although they do make the best honey. The ones with the bright stripes that look really dangerous tend to be a little more docile, he said.

Mind you, you still wouldn't get me taking any chances.

[flump1]

Thanks for all your replies, W-M while I can't get too close to it I do not think robins buzz ??? Cetti , thanks for the link but my bee is not quite so red, more a reddy brown . Whatsmore, I think 'he' has moved on, phew !!!!

[sixpence]

"bee"n and gone then. :-)

[Cetti]

Gone for a lie down I expect, poor little thing!

In case it returns have a look at this little chap as it is the proper colour - not so red.

[BigB]

When i was in the Barbados i saw a huge black bee flying over the sea (we were about 2 miles from shore). This was apparently a Sea-Bee. Seemed to be the size of a sparrow!!!!!!

If it is one of these it is a bit lost.