Queen bee who seems to be maintaining access to a couple abandoned chipmunk holes on the north side of the house, just outside of the roof dripline. Large diversity of nearby spring-flowering plants.

Behavior has been happening for about 5 days. I imagine a nest is in the works.

Video available (not uploaded anywhere yet).

This Bumble Bee was feeding on a Gaillardia flower (Gaillardia aristata) in my front yard. The Gaillardia is one of many native plants I have growing on my property. It was sunny but cool that morning.

This bee was reared up on its hind legs and appeared to be in distress. In the images there is a tiny brown beetle biting the bee's proboscis. They stayed this way for 5 or more minutes before I walked away. Edit: Looking into it, I think the beetle is Antherophagus ochraceus, the silken fungus beetle, which clamps onto bumblebees and hitches a ride back to the nest. The beetle lays eggs in the nest and the resulting larvae eat organic debris.

File under interesting bee-havior. It looks like the much smaller native bee that was foraging on this purple prairie clover bloom lived to see another day. I'm wondering if this Bombus worker managed to scrape away pollen from the smaller bee, or if it just appears that way?

Adding this auricomus for the mites decorating her tibia. If you recognise the type of mite, @zportman or anyone else, could you add it in a comment? I’m assuming it’s some kind of Parasitellus. Thanks!