HelpfulGardener.com

I have been watching visitors of this family stop in for a drink at the hummingbird feeder and another tiny waspy lookiing fellow work the tiny flowers on some celtis I keep as bonsai.

Today I learned they are all members of a family called Bee Fly!

IMO a good bug in as much as they act as pollinators.

How pleasant. I was not at all sure I would have a pollinator for my celtis, after my move.

For bee fly photos:

https://www.cirrusimage.com/flies_bee.htm

tomc,

Those are really cool. We have a lot of Mason / Orchard bees. They also look like flies. This is why we all need to be careful with our identifications before with pull out the insecticides.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mason+bees&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&wrapid=tlif130523640096810&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1003&bih=567


Eric