Bombus, halictid, and the purple flowering raspberries

What nectar-eating creature could resist an offering such as this? The purple-flowering raspberries, like many other plants this year, are just bursting with a profusion of blossoms. I can't recall ever having seen such large clusters of flowers on these shrubs. I wish I had more time to just stand and admire them, camera at the ready, the bees and other insects are taking advantage of the bounty.

This little halictid bee worked over this blossom pretty thoroughly. These are

among my favourite insects, one of the first bees to come out in spring and dazzle the eye with their metallic green working their way through the bright yellow dandelions.

We've been discussing Bombus, the bumblebees, on the nature list. I'm wondering how many species we have in this region, my amateur offhand observations give me the impression of 4, this without having examined them closely. There's the big ones, I call those the B52's. Then there's the "midsize guys" (gals, but don't tell the bees, it doesn't rhyme). Then there's the little duffers, mini-bumbles, about 1/3 the size of the B52's. In the mid-sized range there's the red-butt bumblebees, they have a wide reddish stripe across the abdomen. The B52s move about purposefully, with that recognizable drone. The midsize guys always seem to be in a hurry, frantically buzzing about. The little duffers act more like honeybees. It's amazing that they can fly so well when you see the size of the wings in proportion to the body. They remind me of furry little cherubs, pudgy bodies being held aloft with undersized wings, some kind of magic keeping them airborne.