Well, what I thought was a bee turns out to be a bee look-alike. I did a little research on the differences among bees, wasps, and flies. It so happens that there is a family of flies called Flower Flies (nearly 900 species in North America!) that mimic bees and wasps in looks. However, the flies have short instead of long antennae, large eyes on the front of their heads instead of on the sides, and one pair of wings instead of two (and aren't hairy, as bees usually are). These flower flies are great pollinators, do not sting, and their larvae eat lots of aphids, so are good to have around. This particular flower fly is a Spilomyia fusca (sorry, no common name).
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