[BeeGora]

Can someone identify the big yellow striped bee on the right side of this picture. It was working the sunflowers alongside the bumblebees today. It's too big for a yellow jacket and it's too long and lean to be a hornet. Kinda looks like a big wasp.

 

[Hokie Bee Daddy]

I think it is really called a yellow jacket hover fly but I've always heard it called a "news bee". Southern folklore says that as it is hovering and buzzing it is telling you the news. I remember my grandfather snatching one with his bare hand out of the air as it hovered. They don't have stingers and are harmless. I've seen more of them than usual this year.

Here is a link to a few more pictures.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/2837