On 5 Apr 2011 13:20:00 GMT, wrote:

I realised last summer that I'm very bad at identifying bees which aren't
bumble or honey bees. I've taken a photo of something that was slugging
around on the allotment and I assumed it was a wasp, but having looked a bit
closer (now it's HUGE rather than on a diddly screen), it looks a bit more
hairy than I had thought, so have I mis-assigned it to the wasp family?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/

When I was a novice allotmenteer, I was given some sage advice about
telling the difference. In essence it was "Aggravate the bugger by
flapping your hands around it. If it stings you once and drops dead it
was a bee. If it stings you twice, it still is a wasp". I was once in
a group clearing a woodland path when we came across a bees nest and
really disturbed it accidentally. We were all stung multiple times
and, in my case, I remember a rhyme my father used to tell about a boy
on a burning deck, something about cricket and something about wicket!
I have learnt now never to wear cargo shorts and otherwise "go
commando" when clearing woodland paths, however hot the weather may
be!