[Wombat18]

I was weeding a little touched corner of my plot this evening, when I discovered that rolling around on the ground in front of me were three extremely large brown bees which appeared to be fighting.  After a couple of minutes one flew off.  The bees were so brown in colour that at first I mistook them for some sort of beetle, particularly because of their dark, shiny wings.  I don't know if they were actually underground and my weeding disturbed them or if they just happened to be in the neighbourhood, but they seemed big for bees about 2cm long.   

Anyone have any idea what they could have been and what they were up to?  Have I got a nest somewhere on my plot?  I try to grow flowers that attract bees, but now I'm wondering if I've got more than I bargained for.

[sclarke624]

I was weeding a little touched corner of my plot this evening, when I discovered that rolling around on the ground in front of me were three extremely large brown bees which appeared to be fighting.  After a couple of minutes one flew off. 

Maybe they were making love not war and the best man won. LOL

[Wombat18]

That's what I wondered too, until I remembered that gentlemen bees are usually a lot smaller than lady bees, so clearly this was a handbags at dawn affair among the girls. 

[sclarke624]

LOL

[Trillium]

It's possible you have the brown-banded carder bee which lives in the soil as a resident. If they were large, then it's likely the queens duking it out for territory.

http://www.arkive.org/brown-banded-carder-bee/bombus-humilis/info.html

[Arbutus]

Might they have been Trichius fasciatus (Bee Beetles) ?
 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Trichius_fasciatus_Grinda.jpg

I don't think any of the British Bumble Bees have dark wings, but check out all of the ID's on:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/bombus/

[spottymint]

Hi

Maybe the Carpenter Bee. Very large, black/brown & wings may look blue-ish.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/herefordandworcester/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8734000/8734704.stm