Keeler, Lisa wrote:

> I was out watching my bees taking pollen from the pussy willows and I
> noticed that they were not the only bee doing this.  The other bees were
> distictly different from my yellow Italian honey bees.  The other bees were
> about 1/3 the volume of  my bees, but generally the same shape and features
> as my bees except that the entire body was black and the tail was shiny and
> possibly more pointed.  The thorax was lightly covered in white or light
> yellow hairs much less dense than my furry bees.

Mason bees are a possibility.  However, there are many genera and species of
bees that live among us.  You might be interested in getting an insect guide
book (perhaps one on hymenoptera specifically) from your local library, and
looking up the one you've seen.  Pollination of our local flowers occurred
long before honey bees were brought to the new world, and it is fascinating to
see and identify the many wild species on them.

Ted Fischer
Dexter, Michigan USA