It's a bumble bee (Bombus spp.) of some kind.

One time I almost bought a field guide to bumble bees of the U.S., if I had I could probably tell you what kind of bumble bee it is.

Oh, It might be either the American bumble bee (B. pensylvanicus) or the golden northern bumble bee (B. fervidus).

This bee was at least 1.5 inches long. Could it have been a queen? Though there were 3 of them this morning.

Now that, Greg, I cannot answer at all lol.

I don't know if this will help:

http://www.xerces.org/bumble-bee-identification/

Western US organization, as best as I can tell.

Steve