honeybee

American  

[huhn-ee-bee] / ˈhʌn iˌbi /

Or honey bee

noun

• honeybees
  plural

1. any bee that collects and stores honey, especially Apis mellifera.

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honeybee British  

/ ˈhʌnɪˌbiː /

noun

1. Also called: hive bee. any of various social honey-producing bees of the genus Apis, esp A. mellifera, which has been widely domesticated as a source of honey and beeswax

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• honeybees
  plural

Etymology

Origin of honeybee

First recorded in 1560–70; honey + bee ¹

Explanation

Honeybees are the winged insects that beekeepers like best, because they naturally produce extra honey and can be raised to produce the sweet, sticky stuff. Honeybees, as their name implies, make a lot of honey, storing surplus amounts in their waxy hives. Humans have domesticated two species of honeybee, raising them for the extra honey they produce. You can tell the difference between a bumblebee, which is native to North America, and a honeybee, native to Africa, Asia, and Europe, by comparing their bodies. Honeybees are slim, with a distinct head, while bumblebees are fat and fuzzy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

honeybee honeybees

They also produced artificial foods designed to mimic either the amino acid composition of different pollens or the composition of honeybee tissues.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

The researchers say more work is needed to determine how glyphosate-based weedkillers interact with honeybee biology and how those effects might play out under real-world conditions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

The researchers observed the same pattern in both Asian and European honeybee species, suggesting this strategy evolved long ago and may be widespread among honeybees.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

The tree shrew had the highest intake at 1.4 g/kg/day, while the honeybee had the lowest at 0.05 g/kg/day.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 25, 2026

It takes honeybee workers ten million foraging trips to gather enough nectar to make one pound of honey.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

But the main prey of the Asian hornet is honeybees, with one insect killing up to 50 bees a day, devastating entire colonies.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Research has found acetamiprid can poison honeybees, affecting their foraging capacity and memory, while a 2024 study suggested flupyradifurone could be lethal to some bees.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Bumblebees cannot collect water in the way honeybees do, they get most of the liquid they need from nectar, so wetter nectar can help make colonies more resilient in hot weather.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Bumblebees have much hairier bodies than honeybees, making it easier for dust and airborne particles containing heavy metals to cling to them before being carried back to the nest with pollen.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026

I’ve read about sea animals and honeybees, and all about a beautiful piece of math called the Fibonacci sequence.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy