Hymenoptera. The bees, bumblebees, ants, wasps and saw flies belong to that order.

Hymenoptera is divided into different subordes. Namely suborder Symphyta (This group has no waist, sawflies) and suborder Apocrita. Apocrita is also divided into two groups. Namely: Parasitica and Aculeta.

Parasitica: wasps or parasitic hymenoptera. The females have an ovipositor, with the ovipositor they lay eggs into or near larvae. These larvae are eaten by the wasp larvae. There are several families.
The largest group are the ichneumon wasp (Ichmonidae). Other groups are: Braconidae, chalcid wasps (Chalcidoidea), Gasteruptiidae, gall wasps (Cynipoidea) The plant galls develop, when the eggs are laid.  

Aculeata: In this group the ovipositor is is modified into an stinger. With this stinger they can defend themselves (bees) or they can stun a prey.  In this group are also wasps with parasitic larvae. Spider wasps look like ichneumon wasps, but have a sting to stun their hosts. Jewel wasps (Chrysididae) have a sting too.

Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana) Family Argidae, Saw Flies (Symphyta)
Saw Flies (Symphyta). Sawflies are closely related to wasps. But they don't have the 'waist' of wasps. They make no nest and have no social organization. Sawfly larvae feed on leaves. The larvae  look similar to the caterpillars, but they have six or more pair of prolegs. Some larvae look like little slugs.  

Large Earth Bumblebee, Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) Bumblebees
Bumblebees (Bombus): Big hairy bees of the genus Bombus. They live in colonies. Only the queen hibernates and starts a new colony next year. The nest is sometimes underground, but can also be built between clumps of grass.

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This is a queen. As you can see the queen more robust. The antennae of the males have 13 segments. The scapus (shaft) is the first segment. The workers have 12. 
In Holland they are also called lemonade wasps, because they can be annoying in  late summer and autumn.  Especially if you drink lemonade.
Queen Length: 16 - 19 mm, length workers 11 - 14 mm, length males 13 - 17 mm.
They look very much like the slightly larger German wasp (Vespula germanica).
The nest will be built underground  in old nests of animals, but also in hollow trees and wall cavities. 
In 2008 we had a nest between the roof and ceiling of the pantry. Until  autumn we had no problem. Only when it was cold, you did see them in the pantry. There they were walking around very slow. The year after they had disappeared. 
Native to Europe, Asia, Japan en Northern America. Introduced in New Zealand and Australia. 

Photos queen: 26-3-2012. Photos of a worker of the common wasp: 30-10-2010.
German: Gemeine Wespe  French: La guêpe commune. 

Characteristic: Black with yellow stripes. A narrow tip. Most males of the potter wasps have back-curved last segments of the antennae. 
There are many similar species. Ancistrocerus parietum, Ancistrocerus gazella, Ancistrocerus quadratus, Ancistrocerus nigricornis, Ancistrocerus oviventris...

The nests can be found in holes in the wood. Like beetle galleries, boreholes. In the cells of the nest are caterpillars as food for larvae. As with masonry bees, they close the cell. 

Photos 2-6-2011, 12-4-2012.

The larvae of dryinidwasps are ectoparasite on cicadas.

This female has wings. There are also females without wings. Than they closely resemble ants. The length and colour are variable. They have a sting and therefore they can't be placed at the page with Parasitica. 
Adult female dryinidwasps usually have a chelate foretarsus for grasping the cicada during oviposition. The cicada stays alive at that moment. The larva of the wasp only has the head through the skin of the cicada and is feeding internally on the host. When it grows it develops a hardened sac-like "case" to protect its vulnerable body. The host is eventually killed. Pupation occurs on a plant or in the soil. It overwinters as pupa.
They look like an ant and they live often near ant nests.  

Photo 07-04-2012.  About the size of an ant.

Which species it is, I don't know. Spider wasps are slender with long legs. Usually they are black with a red or white markings on the front part of the abdomen. Unlike other wasps the first segment of the thorax (pronotum) of spider wasps extends back to the tegulae (attachment scales of the wings).
They are solitary and hunt spiders. The spider is paralyzed with a poisonous sting and then dragged into a nest. Or to a place where a nest is made. In the abdomen an egg is laid.
In Belgium and the Netherlands are approximately 70 species. There are four subfamilies. Ceropalinae, Pepsinae, Ctenocerinae, Pompilinae
They can also stabbing people.

Photos 11-8-2010. Maybe Caliadurgus fasciatellus or  Priocnemis (Pompilidae) female. ????????

Auplopus carbonarius Family spider wasps (Pompilidae)
This spider wasp is completely black. The male has white spots on the face. The front of the abdomen is narrowed.
This is a common spider wasp in the Netherlands. The female in this photo drag the spider with it. It has amputated the legs of the spider. This often happens with these spider wasps.
The nests are unexcavated. Usually you can find them in crevices in walls or trees.

Length 7-10 mm
May-August.

Photo 13-9-2010

The prey are the bees Halictus, Lasioglossum and Andrena. It stocks its nests with these solitary bees.
They like to nest in groups. They make a corridor right downwards with side corridors with a cubbyhole on end. 

Length 8 - 12 mm.
June- September.

Photos 21-8-2010.

Ivo Raemakers (translated): I can't see the number cubitaalcels, but given the habit and the not stemmed the abdomen, the thighs thickened and the structure of the propodeum, I think Crossocerus.  Thanks Ivo. Maybe Crossocerus nigritus

Photo 30-4-2010.

There are many similar species.
Females make their nest in decayed wood and they mainly supply it with hoverflies (Syrphidae). They are solitary wasps, but they sometimes have the same entrance to their nests.
Species of the Ectemnius family don't dig in sand.
Length 14 mm.
June - October.

Photos: 3-7-2011, 14-6-2012.

Features: A narrow waist. The abdominal segments 2-5 have a yellow band. In section 4, the yellow band  is broken.
Flies of the family muscidae are often used as prey.
The nest is underground.

Length  - 12 mm.
July - October.

Photos 24-9-2010.  

Rhopalum coarctatum. Family: Crabronidae.

A black wasp. The orange spot on the hind shins is striking. The legs are pale yellow with black. The male has strange antennas. Just visible in the picture.
Length of male 4.5 to 6.5 mm. Female: 6 to 7.5 mm.
Nests in stems, rotten wood. Their preys are mosquitoes, dust lice.
Europe, Asia (to Japan) and North America.
April - September. 

Photos 21-5-2011.

Photos 19-6-2011.

German: Töpfergrabwespe.

Not in our garden but in the dunes 3 km from our home.

Podalonia spec. Family Sphecidae.

There are several species in the Netherlands. The most common species is the Podalonia affinis. Length 14 to 20 mm. It is found in sandy areas and dunes. Only after it has caught a caterpillar, it digs a shallow nest. But the wasp in the picture can also be the rarer Podalonia luffii or the Podalonia hirsuta.

Photos 12-6-2012. 

When I think of bees, I always think of social honey bees and beekeepers. But there are more solitary species. They all feed on ( also the larvae) nectar and polllen. Bumble bees are close relatives of  the honey bees.

European honey bee, western honey bee (Apis mellifica)  Family Apidae.

In Europe it is found in wild and it is maintained by beekeepers. There are several subspecies.
The queen leaves her nest for the mating flight. The males you see especially in summer. Furthermore, there are of course the workers. The bees survive winter as a colony. A difference with the bumblebees.
The bee is easily recognized by their elongated radial cell near the front wingtip.
Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Introduced in North America (1600).
Photos 15-7-2012.

  Photo 11-3-2012.  Bees collect pollen in the pollen basket.

German: Westliche Honigbiene, Europäische Honigbiene. French: L'abeille européenne, l’avette, la mouche à miel.

Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva). Family Mining Bees (Andrenidae).  Female

It looks a bit like a bumblebee with his long foxy red brown hairs. The legs are black.
You can often find them (also in our garden) on currants, gooseberries and other Ribes species. 
Solitary. The females make the nest in sandy soil. Sometimes in the garden. Small sand heaps with entrance hole in the middle. Diameter: 9 mm. Depth: 20 - 40 mm. The branched hole has oval cells. In each cell are pollen, nectar and one egg.  
Sometimes there are many nests together. But every bee has its own nest.
Length female 12-14 mm, length male 9 - 11 mm.
March - May.
Photos March, April 2012.

German: Rotpelzige Sandbiene 

Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa). Family Mining Bees (Andrenidae). Female.

The thorax has on the upperside red hairs and white hairs on the underside. The front of the head is white hairy. The abdomen is shiny black with red hairs at the end. (which is hard to see in this picture.) 
They make the nest on sandy places. Sometimes alone, sometimes in a group.

March - July.  Palearctic.

Length females 10 - 11 mm, length males 9 - 11 mm.
Photos 5-5-2013. 

German: Rotschopfige Erdbiene

Andrena tibialis. Family Mining Bees (Andrenidae).  female.  

At first I thought it was an Andrena carantonica. But Ivo Raemakers commented: Because a whole orange scopa: no A. carantonica. Because  light hairy face: no A. nigroaenea. Remains A. tibialis. Thanks Ivo.
The number Andrena carantonica in the Netherlands seems to have decreased.

Length 8, 9 mm.
Flight: March - June.

Photo 17-4-2010 

Andrena subopaca Family Mining Bees (Andrenidae)  Photo 4-6-2010 

I'm not quite sure. It is the most common wasp in the Netherlands of the Andrena minutula group. These are small black bees, which are difficult to identify. Other species, which belong to this group, are Andrena minutula, Andrena minutuloides, Andrena Saunders ella, Andrena falsifica and Andrena viridescens.
In these pictures it is on Alliaria officinalis or Alliaria petiolata. At the top picture with a beetle (Byturus)
Sparsely hairy. Both on the head, thorax and the body are white hairs. The tip of the abdomen is brown. That is hard to see. (picture on the bottom)

Length  5 - 7 mm.
Flight: March - August

Female.  

Male

On corydalis.

In the garden they are hard to photograph. They are very mobile. I see this year for the first time some Hairy-Footed Flower Bees in the garden. Both male and female were flown into the scullery. When I let them out again, they stayed here on the sheet, so I could take a picture. Now it is easy to compare the male and female. I see them (late March), especially on lungworts (Pulmonaria) . Other visited flowers are for example, deadnettle, corydalis.
They look like small bumblebees. The coat is long, dense and brown. The male has elongated middle legs with long hairs on the tarsus segments. (see photo).
They are solitary bees. They have nests in clay slopes and steep walls of mud.
Europe, Near East, North Africa and introduced in the 20th century into the U.S.             
Length: 14 - 16 mm. March - June.  German: Gemeine Pelzbiene.  

Photos 24-03-2012, 21-03-2012, 15-4-2013.

Hylaeus communis. Subfamily: Hylaeinae. Family Colletidae.

A common species like the Hylaeus hyalinatus. Both species are found everywhere in the Netherlands. They nest in hollow stems, in cavities in wood and walls. 
They are black. The females of the different species are similar to each other. On the head they have two small yellow spots. On the head of the males are three large yellow / cream marks. The yellow/cream marks of Hylaeus communis are going around the antennae. 
Hylaeus communisis found on wide verity of flowers, where it is easy to find the honey and pollen. Like par exemple Umbelliferae.
Length female 5,5-7 mm, male 4,5 - 6 mm.  May - September.  

Photos 14-06-2012.

Lasioglossum calceatum or Lasioglossum albipes. Family Halictidae. male

These two species are very similar. The females have a sweet fragrance.

It's a social bee. The female hibernates. In spring it makes a nest in the ground. First the workers appear and then the males and females.

Lasioglossum calceatum Length females 8 - 9 mm, length males 8 - 10 mm.
Lasioglossum albipes Length females 8 - 9 mm, length males 8 - 10 mm.

April - October. Photos 15-7-2012, 17-7-2012.

I often see these bees on the flowers of celandine in March.
According to Theo MJ Peeters (translated): They have white hair bands on the abdomen and then there are only two species: Lasioglossum sexstrigatum or Lasioglossum sabulosum. Differ in detail features such as the serration of the track on the hind legs ... Thank you Theo. 
Lasioglossum sabulosum is rarer in the Netherlands. So I think probably a Lasioglossum sexstrigatum.
They make their nests in sandy soil. The fertilized females overwinter. The males therefore appear in June.
Length 5 - 7 mm. March - October.

Photos 24-03-2012. 

German: Große Wollbiene, French: L'abeille cotonnière .    

Megachile Leaf-cutter bee (Megachile centuncularis). Subfamily leafcutter bees (Megachilinae). Family Megachilidae. 

The hairs are yellowish brown. The hairs on the underside of the body (to carry the pollen) of the females are red and these hairs of the males are white. 
They look like the Megachile versicolor. But the last part of the hairs on the underside of the body of these bees is black. 
They nest in holes in different places such as trees, walls, dead plant stems and bee hotels. 
Often in the gardens in towns and cities.

Length female 11 - 12 mm, male 9 - 11 mm.   July - August.
  More photos of a leafcutting  leafcutterbee!!!!!             

They nest in holes in the ground.

Length 13 - 15 mm.
May - September.

Photos 10-7-2011.

Characteristics:
The head and thorax have yellowish brown hairs. Small bands of white hairs on the edge of the segments of the abdomen. The male has expanded front tarsi, covered with long white hairs. The females have conspicuous red fringes of hair (at the end black hairs), for carrying pollen, on the underside of their bodies.
They are nesting in holes in decayed wood, but also in large (6-9 mm) hollow reeds or in the ground. The hole is lined with round / oval pieces of leaves, which they have cut.

Length 12-16 mm.
June - September.

Photos 4-6-2011.

Male Osmia rufa. Photo 15-03-2012.  German: Rote Mauerbiene

Nomada sheppardana. Family Nomadinae.

April - August. 4 - 7 mm.
Photo 14-5-2010.