This is my first year managing a hive. I noticed something weird, a bee that was wider then the other bees. Now I know the Queen’s are longer, but this one felt more like a rectangle. I thought it was maybe a bumble bee or something. I have regular honey bees… When I looked at it, went crazy and flew at me. I didn’t see it again. I wonder if it is causing problems in my hive.
Hard to tell without a photo. Bumble bee is perhaps the most likely, but they are not well tolerated in the hive. Your own bees would likely chase it off, or kill it if it refused to leave. Did it look like this?
https://www.shutterstock.com/search/bumblebee
The only intruders which look like bees and really cause problems in the hive are hornets/wasps/yellowjackets. But they are long, pointy-tailed and and narrow, not rectangular.
Drone?
…
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I thought about that, but I have never had a drone fly straight at me. I guess I don’t smell enough like a queen bee!
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It turned out it was a black bee drone.