"EEK!!!" says the Poppy Head, "It's a BLACK BEE!!"

This is one of those lucky pictures where you see the opportunity, aim, take a picture, and the second you do, the critter disappears like it was never there in the first place! :D I didn't actually think it would come out. What a surprise to look at this on my computer and find this bee in mid-air, in crisp focus! WOW! And then I laughed out-loud because the poppy head seems to be very alarmed at the bee! So funny! :D

Thanks to Art (Leapfrog) for helping me to identify this as a California Carpenter Bee! Sure looks like a bumblebee to me but it's not surprising that I'm confused: did you know there are over 20,000 bees in the world?!!

Carpenter bees aren't even close relatives of bumblebees, though they do share the same family. There are over 500 species of carpenter bee compared to 250 species of bumblebee.

From Wiki: These bees get their name from the fact that nearly all species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers (except those in the subgenus Proxylocopa, which nest in the ground). If you would like more information about Carpenter bees, Wikipedia has a nice source here: Wikipedia: Carpenter Bee