Skip to main content
bee

bee

353 1.0
A flying insect with a hairy body that collects nectar and pollen
  • noun
  • /biː/
translation icon : abeja
  • Our little friends, the bees.
  • honey bee
  • queen bee
  • bee colony

So they've taken these bees and now they release them.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • During spring, you can often see bees busy pollinating the blossoms in the garden.

  • This was the work of von Frisch, showing bee dancing, bee communication.

  • After dinner, I went out to see how the bee trap was working.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • But this is what the bees make for the queen bee.

  • Let Chad catch the bee in the glass.

  • The island is far enough from land that no other honey bees are present.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Oh, look at all the busy bees!

  • There's not a single bee in this entire box.

  • There are just honey bees everywhere on these blooms.

  • Throughout much of Nepal, several ethnic groups routinely harvest cliff bee nests for honey and wax.

    Academic text (1990)

Idioms

3 7.7

To say something that hurts someone suddenly and sharply

busy as a bee
  • Informal
1 3.4

Working very hard all the time

Compounds

37 2.9

A contest where people say the letters of words and are out if they make a mistake

12 1.0

A painful, swollen spot on the skin when a bee's sharp point goes into it

7 3.6

A female bee that cannot lay eggs and gathers food and cares for the hive

queen bee
  • Informal
5 5.8

A woman who is most influential in a social group

3 6.9

An aggressive bee from Brazil made by crossing African and European honeybees

busy bee
  • Informal
3 2.9

A person who always works hard and stays active

Africanized bee
  • Specialized
1 8.0

A type of honeybee made by mixing African and European bees that is very aggressive and spreads fast

1 3.4

A fertile female bee in a hive that lays all the eggs

1 8.2

A brightly colored bird that catches and eats bees and other insects in flight

1 6.5

A meeting where people work together to sew warm blankets from small cloth pieces

1 7.4

A garden herb with bright scented flowers that attract bees and butterflies

A large bee that lives alone and makes nests by drilling holes in wood

Africanized honey bee
  • Specialized
1 7.2

A honey bee bred from African and European bees that is very aggressive and spreads across the Americas

killer bee
  • Jargon
1 9.9

A banker who helps a company avoid being taken over by another firm

8.7

A hairy fly that looks like a bee and whose young eat baby bees

2.7

A shed that holds many beehives

A large fly that looks like a bee and catches other insects in the air to drink their juices

8.7

A small moth whose larvae eat wax and honeycomb in beehives

9.9

A European wild flower whose bloom looks like a bumblebee

9.8

A beetle in Europe that lives in beehives, damages honeycombs and disturbs bees

3.4

Looks, sounds, or moves like a bee

7.4

A dark honeybee from northern Europe that can be defensive around its hive

Carniolan bee
  • Specialized
7.0

A grey honeybee that makes a lot of honey and is gentle

8.9

A solitary bee from the western United States that pollinates alfalfa

A bee that cuts pieces from leaves to make its nest

A bee that cuts small pieces from leaves or flowers to build its nest

6.8

A bee that lives alone and builds nests from mud in holes

A solitary bee that nests in the ground and is seen in spring

German bee
  • Specialized
8.1

A dark, defensive honeybee bred in Germany for beekeeping

husking bee
  • Archaic
9.9

A community event where people gather to remove the outer leaves from corn and have fun

Italian bee
  • Specialized
5.4

A yellowish honeybee that is gentle and makes a lot of honey

A garden plant with pink or white flowers that attract bees

A bee that lives alone and builds mud nests on plants

How Social

honeybee
15 1.2
bee
353 1.0

Surface Forms

bee singular
bees plural

Etymology

Bee is a very old English word that has always named the busy, honey-making insect. You can see the same idea in everyday words like beehive and beeswax, which is why bee still means the flying insect that gathers nectar and makes 'honey'.