I have noticed that a swarm has taken over an empty hive in one of my more
remote outyards.  The bees seem much more similar to honeybees than to
bumblebees even though they are even _bigger_ than the largest bumblebee
that I have ever seen.  Each is approximately twice the girth and a little
longer than an average man's thumb!  The colony at present occupies two
standard bodies in which they have removed the old comb and constructed
their own comb (in which the cells are nearly the size of shot glasses!).
The bees are very gentle and seem completely free of disease and thus far
are bringing in a super of honey each day-- rather unusual at this time of
year).  Could these bees be A. labioriosa, "the giant honeybee"?  I'd heard
these bees build only single combs and will not live in boxes and seem
smaller by half than the bees I have.  I'm going to try to make some splits
soon to try to increase the numbers of these bees.
 
Does anyone have any idea how I can find more information on these giant bees?
 
H. Tortsgnal
Avalon Apiaries
Victoria, BC
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