Keith Malone wrote:
>I think I will laugh too, I have been seeing these shiny black bees for a
quit a few years now in the colonies I keep

It is important to distinguish between the intermorphs and ordinary robber
bees, which are also "shiny black bees"

QUOTE:

we collected
worker bees that were robbers, identified by their
smooth, shiny black appearance. Because IMs exhibit
some of the same morphological features (see below)
and can be associated with robbing, the final comparison
allowed us to assess whether IMs were simply
robber bees or a unique type of worker.

Workers with reduced numbers of hairs and shiny
black abdomens have been reported previously and
the appearance attributed to robbing behavior, feeding
on certain nectars or pollens, or viral infection
causing hairless or "black bee" syndrome. 

In our study, robber bees were clearly distinguishable
from IMs. 

from:

Description of an Intermorph Between a Worker and Queen in
African Honey Bees Apis mellifera scutellata
GLORIA DEGRANDI-HOFFMAN

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