A blue-banded bee collecting pollen and nectar from red bonfire salvia flowers. It’s a large bee, with a pale brown fluffy head and thorax, and a shiny black and neon blue striped abdomen. The 4 blue stripes suggest this is a female.

A second view of a blue-banded bee collecting pollen and nectar from red bonfire salvia flowers. It’s a large bee, with a pale brown fluffy head and thorax, and a shiny black and neon blue striped abdomen. The 4 blue stripes suggest this is a female.

A blue-banded bee in my back yard - a very welcome visitor! I hope she lays eggs in our bee hotel…
#australianbee #bluebandedbee #australiannative #savethebees #canberrabackyards #canberragardens