The daisies are in full bloom at the south side of the house. And, they appear to be covered with honey bees. Which I think is a good thing, given the state of honey bees in the world.
However, on closer inspection, most of these "bees" are not bees at all. They are Common Drone Flies (Eristalis tenax) -- one of the bee mimics.
Drone flies have evolved to look like male honey bees (drones). And, they have even evolved to fly like honey bees -- methodically moving from flower to flower rather than hovering like other flies.
Surveying the visitors to the daisies, it is hard to distinguish the bees from the drone flies. Honey bees have narrower waists than drone flies -- a characteristic difficult to discern at an arms length.
Best to give both the bees and drone flies a little distance. I wish to avoid the sting from the true honey bees.
