Is this a bee?

[JaggyPurpleThistle]

2255

Sorry, I know this forum is intended for folks who keep bees so my question is probably not what you want to be asked here but I am so curious that I have have to at least try and find out....

Is it a bee in the attached photo that I took in my garden today?

After searching through pages and pages of google I am really confused as at first I was beginning to think it was a drone bee but more reading was making me doubt that it is because of the time of year and its behaviour.

Hope someone can help!

[Jon]

Just a single wing each side so likely some kind of a hoverfly

[busybeephilip]

Hoverfly

[The Drone Ranger]

I suspect its an AMM bee which took part in the non lethal wing sampling project

[gavin]

... and had its antennae pruned plus some other modifications.

It looks like a drone fly. You can see them most of the year. Yes, in the hoverfly group.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Eristalis_November_2007-2.jpg/800px-Eristalis_November_2007-2.jpg

[Neils]

And just to add you don't have to keep bees to post or ask a question here, we don't bite (or sting!) and we like answering questions :)

[Acermimi]

It is a female Drone Fly, Eristalis (Eristalis) tenax. It looks like the pale form, with narrow yellow band on the abdomen which looks like pollhen - but is not. The abdominal colour bands are variable. The eyes are those of a fly, not a bee and the way the fly is holding its legs is more stiff and lying closer to the abdomen, while a bees legs tend to hangdown more.
In additon the antenna is not that of a bee, but that of a hoverfly where the antenna is flattened with a hair like arista protruding from it, wheras the bee antenna is long thin, segmented and often bent sharply over at an angle.
E.tenax are flying now in early spring, they are over-wintering adults emerging from hibernation. The larvae are usually found in drains, muddy ditches etc.
Hope this is of help.
Acermimi