I think this is an Australian Native Bee – according to Aussie Bee Online the difference is that bees collect pollen to feed their young whereas wasps feed on the pollen and eat insects etc.
This ‘bee’ seemed to be collecting pollen from my spring onion flowers in my vegetable garden today – although it is hard to tell as they are so small and fast and get skittish easily disappearing often.
There are apparently 1500 species of Australian Native Bees.
Does anyone know if this is an Australian Native Bee and if so which one???
Wildflowerings - Art Studio Diary 
Lyn, I’m pretty sure that’s a hoverfly rather than a bee. They spend a lot of time visiting flowers and doing bee-like things.
Yupp its definitely a Hoverfly.
Lovely photos.
Hi aussiegal, Thanks for that, they were quite busy for a few days on these shallots in my vegie garden.
Bees have two sets of wings. Flies have one set of wings. That’s definitely a hoverfly you have there. It’s harmless, it mimics bees for protection. It visits flowers as a bee. It buzzes and everything. But it’s not a native bee. 🙂 Hope this helps.
Thankyou for your information – it always helps to get extra info for readers, I am very much an amateur naturalist!
Ahhh, I have these in my garden too and thought they might have been native bees. I’ve snapped several pictures of them in my garden recently. They seem to be feeding off tiny aphides on new growth of our weeping japanese maple. I’ve uploaded my pucs to my instagram account: design._freak if you wanted to see🙄 cheers, Heather
Hi, great info, thanks. I’ve got clouds of these hover flies. So do they help with pollination like bees?
Aha, NOW I know what they are! Got a bazillion of them at the moment and knew they weren’t bees even though they look a lot like bees. Rather cute little guys, though nonetheless.
i took photos today in the bush and thought I had a native bee but now I know its a hoverfly… thanks folks
The maggots of these hover flies eat aphids and other pests, so are very important in gardens.