Bees have a special place in my fly box for some very good reasons. When the weather gets hot and inconsistent trout will break from their lies and rise for a bee with unfettered enthusiasm. Another reason to keep a stash of bees in your bonnet is because bees are very helpless and awkward when they get stuck in the surface film making them easy prey for trout. A trout does not have to expel too much energy for a morsel of bee protein. Unlike a water scrafing cranefly or damselfly the bee is about as helpless as a baby in a swim diaper when it takes the plunge. Bee patterns often are in the boxes relegated for panfish but you don’t see bee patterns in many trout bum boxes. Trout take bees with the same determination and voraciousness that ants evoke. When the weather is exceptionally hot I have found that a bee can bring some pretty stubborn fish to the surface. Most of the bee patterns that you see in catalogs are not specifically called out as “trout flies” they have gotten type