Not a bee but a hover fly…

Thankyou to Snail for the advice on my question of whether the insect I saw last weekend in my vegie patch was a native Australian bee. Seems it is not a bee but a hoverfly

The excellent Australian Museum Online shows my hover fly – it seems they are often mistaken for bees and wasps.

They are also predatory feeding on things like aphids – so will definitely be encouraging them in this garden.

There is also some great information on a blog I recently found about Brisbane Insects.