[meristohm]

Until we planted ~native meadow in our yard (Pacific Northwest), I didn't know there were so many different bees! What I think of as bumblebees vary from almost entirely yellow to nearly all black, with mixed stripes in between, and varying in shape and size, from tip of pinkie to end of my thumb. Then there are the littler bees, often iridescent green or shiny black. I also learned how unthreatening they are; I can get within inches and all they seem to care about is the flowers. The various wasps/hornets I'm more wary of, but even they haven't stung me yet. I like them in the garden because they eat pests. I've only killed one colony, because it was a nest in the ground on the path to the garden.