Same here. They are always hanging out on the Alyssum as well as the Daisies.
I was wondering what was up too. Hopefully someone out there can answer.

Us too! Can't say I've seen them before but they're all over the Becky Shastas. Went a'googlin and it took awhile but finally ID them as Hover Flies. They are much smaller than house flies with stripes on the backside.

It seems like a "good thing". They're important pollinators and most importantly they really take down the aphid population.

Here's a link. Oh....could I find it by researching fly species? Nope. Found them on someone's blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hover fly

If I'm wrong I have NO idea...nothing matched up at all with what I'm observing. Are yours smaller than houseflies? Mine are.

Oh, I went out awhile ago to shoot a pix of them to zoom in on but it's cloudy now and of course? They're gone. I'll try again in the morning.

Hummers and butterflys in abundance!

Same here. I attributed them to the banana peels and egg shells I've been shoving under the mulch. Maybe I'm wrong,though.

Hmm. You know, now that I think about it, they ARE smaller than the typical housefly. Not by alot. But definitely smaller. I just figured they were "youngish" flies or somethin'.

I was just watching them fly around the shastas now. Yep, they do "hover" like a helicopter lol. So they probably are the Hover Flies.

Thanks for the link Jant. I had posted on the Bee forum asking what they were. With the declining bee population, it's good to have these guys around to pollinate my veggies.

In fact msyoohoo may be on to something -- it could be that with a decline in bee populations, the hover flies are expanding into other niches. Or it could just be that they're more numerous this year as part of a regular cycle of boom-and-bust insect populations.

I have them swarming all over my astilbes. Blech!

I have them too - never had them before - asked Alexa and now googling and found this. They are right by my front porch so I want them gone!