Greetings!

The bug activity in the Rain Garden I tend is finally picking up. I watched a Leaf Cutter Bee cut a leaf and fly off with her prize for her nest. I witnessed a Monarch Butterfly lay an egg on a Milkweed stem. I've seen TWO Great Black Wasps on the Milkweed. The Soldier Beetles are back in abundance, as are the Cicada Killer Wasps. The Northern Paper Wasps like getting drinks at the birdbath. And the aphids are emerging on the Milkweed so I expect the lacewings and lady beetles will soon arrive, along with those tiny parasitic wasps.

The photos  I've attached are of a black bee which has proven quite challenging to photograph. I finally caught it one afternoon on a late Miniature Hollyhock blossom August 6, 2016. I like the pollen sacs on the legs. I have Bumble Bees of various sizes in my garden; this though does not appear to be a Bumble Bee.

Can you help me out?

Blessings,

Wanda J. Kothlow