A sure sign of spring for me personally is the re-emergence of my bees from their winter dormancy. While they will occasionally make an appearance on warm winter days to take a short cleansing flight, it takes some sun and warmer temperatures to encourage them to break out of the tight ball they overwinter in and start foraging for nectar and pollen.
Before I kept bees I never gave much thought to what a honeybee looked like in comparison to other bees. Now that I can tell them not only by sight but by sound as they fly by, I thought some basic identification tips would be of interest to gardeners and anyone who spends a bit of time enjoying the outdoors.
The picture above shows two bees side by side. The big one on the lower right is the common wild bee known as a bumblebee. Its size, slow flight and low-pitched buzz make it easy to spot and identify. Being fairly common, it is what many people think of when they think of a bee. The bee on the upper left is one of my honeybees. As you can see, it is much smaller, with a pronounced thorax and more orange coloring (although honeybee coloring varies widely). The bright pollen sacs on the side of its legs are also visible. Below is a clear picture of just a honeybee alone it all of its glory.
If you have flowers, dandelions, or a flourishing garden on your property, and you see a bee similar to the one above, then someone in the vicinity is probably keeping bees. Count yourself lucky, as they are great pollinators and generally very docile and focused solely on their work.
Of course there are wasps and hornets, epitomized by the ubiquitous yellow jacket, which give real bees a bad rap. They are easy to tell apart from bees if you actually take the time to give them a look. Plus, their aggressive demeanor is a sure sign that you are not dealing with an innocent honeybee foraging for nectar.
Next time you are out in the garden, take a minute to watch the bees at work. It's a fascinating show.
(Image 1: Richard Popovic. Image 2 by Flickr member Ryan Wick licensed for use under Creative Commons. Image 3 by Flickr member D.Griebeling licensed for use under Creative Commons.)
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Nomade Express Slee...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
How to Make Buckwheat Soba Noodles from Scratch
It might also be helpful to identify the carpenter bee which looks very similar to a bumblebee except with a shiny, non-fuzzy abdomen. I am the bee loving daughter of a bee-keeper, but when I discovered these guys chomping on my house they had to meet an unfortunate end.
We just got our bees 2 weeks ago. They are wonderful I love opening the hive, it's a top bar and requires more frequent inspection than your typical langstroth.
Keep in mind there are over 4400 native bee species in North America - honeybees only make up a small fraction. Fore more info check out http://pollinator.org/
Of course if you see a honeybee around there could be a swarm nearby, in a tree or under a roof....
t.u.h - I always thought that top bar hives require less inspection/management than a typical langstroth hive. But I don't have a top bar hive so not the expert by any means.
Violet Veil, all the keepers I know who have tried the TB hives alongside the Langstroth hate them...but you know what they say about how many ways there are to keep bees: count all the keepers in the room and then add one more opiniont!
RE Bumble vs Carpenter bees - bumble bees tuck their wings along their back when at rest, while carpenter bees keep them out. Also, carpenter species have some spot of yellow on the face, while bumbles don't!