These are hard to photograph. I believe this one is male based on the tiny mandibles and the slim abdomen. Females tend to be larger.

My guess Andrena spp. Not a wasp or bumblebee this time.

My mom and I are both interested in bees at a hobbyist gardener level. I use iNaturalist to help with identifying bees, but my mom would prefer an old-fashioned field guide book. I'm hoping to get her one for Christmas, but struggling with finding one that seems suitable.

So far I have found the Princeton "Common bees of Eastern North America," but I see that it's 288 pages and seems a bit overwhelming! I might be a bit spoiled coming from my background as a birder, where there are many beginner-friendly field guides, fewer species, and they're easier to tell apart, but I'm wondering if there might be something a little more layman-friendly I could get my mom. I'm sure she'd be happy with identifying her bees down to the level of "carder bee" or "leaf-cutter bee" and not necessarily all the way down to the species-level.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Much appreciated!

I brought wood in for use in my fireplace and as I was tending the fire a large bee flew out and is now in my house somewhere. I think it might be a queen bee that was hibernating. It flew to my second floor bedroom area and now I have no idea how to find it to capture and let it out.

I saw a wood bee the yesterday outside in the rain, and it could barely move. Even when I tried to touch it. I thought it was dying, so I took it inside and gave it some sugar water and placed it in a leftover reptile cage I had lying around.

It's healthy now and can move, so I want to let it go, but I don't know where to put it. It's really cold outside where I live, and the internet says they're supposed to be hybernating right now?? Do I just keep it till it's warmer out or do I make a hole in a piece of wood for it??? 😭 Sorry if I'm overcomplicating this, I just don't want it to die after getting involved.

Update: I let the bee go since today was very sunny. He flew off just fine. Thanks for the advice and new information! It was a pretty cool experience. I would've let it stay longer but looked like it wanted to go.

Also "wood bee" is just what people in my area call carpenter bees.

Trying to upload from my computer botched my first posting. I'm going through my archives since there aren't enough bees outside now, November in Minnesota.

I live in NYC. I was a little perplexed to find this handsome creature in my living area.

As a PSA, I plan to release the bee. But contemplating waiting until daytime bc it’s so cold. Happy to take advice on this aspect.

But my real question is: can anyone help me understand why a huge healthy bee (wasp?) is in my apartment in chilly November? Windows have been closed.

Just had a though of how dangerous it could be to consume honey from a neighborhood beehive. You don't know where they got the nectar from, who grew them and what they used to grow them. So I don't see any reason why beekeepers would keep and use the honey from captured hives as well.