Yes, that is a fabulous little bee!!! Its one of the 20-odd species of sunflower bees (aka as summer long-horned bees). They are in the genus Melissodes. These bees are solitary and females dig slender tunnels into the ground to make their nests. Almost all the species are specialist on composite flowers. The males have exceptionally long antennae (you have a male in the image) which are only matched in the spring by our spring long-horned bees (genus Eucera). The males often cling to flowers in the evenings and can be found forming chains of connected bees in the morning. The females are quite striking too, with dense feathery structures on their hind legs (the technical term for these hairy structures are scopa). Other female bees have scopa, but none are quite as dense and hairy as female Melissodes.    

Thanks so much!  Is there anything in particular I can/should do to make my garden more habitable for these guys aside from flowers - we have a bunch of pollinator mix in as well as a few stands of sunflowers, lots of fruit bushes and veggies as well.

Thanks again!

These bees love all varieties of composite plants. Echnichia, coreopsis, black-eyed Susans or sunflowers are what these bees want. You won't see them on other flowers that bloom this time of year, like sedum or russian sage. They also nest in the ground, so don't mulch everything and leave a few features where there is some bare soil for them to build their homes. Good luck!

Thanks so much! I have at least three if not four varieties of sunflowers right now so I hope they are happy. Cheers!