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

For many years, scientists believed the recipe for creating a queen honeybee was straightforward: give a developing larva plenty of royal jelly, and it becomes the colony's ruler.

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

At one point he compared himself to a honeybee.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

My wife and daughter are going to get a smoothie called the honeybee, which is very sweet and delicious.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2026

He went behind the counter and took a little bell, no bigger than a honeybee, out of a drawer.

From "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden

The findings could have implications that extend beyond honeybees.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

Teller stressed that native insects are critical to local ecosystems, and that his imported honeybees in fact depend on native ecology.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

Although honeybees receive most public attention, about 75% of bee species are solitary ground nesters like A. regularis.

From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026

In the lab at Oxford, PhD student Jennifer Chennells showed us small clear boxes of honeybees in an incubator that she feeds with different foods she has made.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025

The effect of the loss of honeybees ripples to other crops.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson