We could hear a buzzing sound all the way down the hill! We found her by stumbling from flower to flower. A gentle bumble bee among our flower pots. She’s one of the most important pollinators for crops as a native bee species. Join us as we compare the honey bee vs bumble bee in our study today. Add our FREE Honey Bee Bumble Bee Venn Diagram and activities to your nature notebooking.
Pictures of Honey Bees and Bumblebees: A Visual Comparison
Honey bees and bumblebees are two of the most common bee species found in gardens and fields. While they may look similar at first glance, there are some key differences between these important pollinators. In this article, we’ll explore pictures of honey bees and bumblebees to help you distinguish between them.
Appearance
The most obvious difference between honey bees and bumblebees is their size and overall fuzzy appearance.
![Honey bee on a flower][]
Honey bees have a smooth, golden-brown body with dark brown bands They are relatively slender and grow to about 1.5 cm long![Bumblebee on a flower][]
Bumblebees are larger, growing up to 2.5 cm long, and much fuzzier than honey bees. Their bodies are black with broad yellow or orange bands.
Bumblebees are generally bigger and furrier than honey bees. Their coloring also tends to be bolder. The fuzzy appearance comes from the longer, branched hairs that cover a bumblebee’s body.
Wings
Looking at the wings offers another way to distinguish honey bees from bumblebees. ![Honey bee wings][]
Honey bees have four wings that are clear and smooth in appearance.![Bumblebee wings][]
Bumblebees also have four wings but they can appear more crumpled and wrinkled than a honey bee’s wings.
The wings reflect the overall sleeker physique of the honey bee versus the more disheveled look of a bumblebee.
Legs
The legs offer some more subtle distinguishing traits between these bees.![Honey bee legs][]
Honey bees have slender, unbranched hairs on their legs and smooth segments on their feet. ![Bumblebee legs][]
Bumblebees tend to have fuzzy, branched hairs on their legs and the segments on their feet may appear more pronounced.
As with the body, the hairier nature of the bumblebee shows up on the legs too.
Face
The face is one part where it’s easy to mix up these bees. But a closer look reveals some telling differences.![Honey bee face][]
The honey bee has a head that is more oval-shaped. Their eyes are medium sized.![Bumblebee face][]
Bumblebees tend to have a wider head. Their eyes also appear slightly larger relative to their head size.
The bumblebee’s broad head paired with their sizable eyes makes their face look different than the honey bee’s more slender head and cleanly oval shape.
Stinger
You’ll want to avoid getting stung by either insect. But their stingers offer another point of differentiation.![Honey bee stinger][]
Honey bees have a barbed stinger that gets stuck in skin when they sting. This causes them to die shortly after stinging.![Bumblebee stinger][]
Bumblebees have a smooth stinger allowing them to sting repeatedly without dying.
So while both can sting, a honey bee pays the ultimate price for protecting itself.
In Flight
Trying to identify a bee in mid-air takes a sharp eye. But you can train yourself to recognize differences in their flight patterns.![Honey bee in flight][]
Honey bees tend to fly in straighter paths as they move efficiently between flowers or their hive. ![Bumblebee in flight][]
Bumblebees exhibit a more lumbering, wavering flight pattern as they meander from flower to flower.
The more direct, streamlined flight of honey bees contrasts with the bumblebee’s more wandering, wobbly style.
On Flowers
Watching bees forage on flowers shows their behavioral differences.![Honey bee on flower][]
Honey bees will hop quickly between different flower types in an area, not sticking with one kind.![Bumblebee on flower][]
Bumblebees tend to focus their efforts intently on one flower species at a time.
The honey bee works speedily while the bumblebee plods along methodically.
In the Hive
Peeking inside their nests or hives offers more understanding of how they live.![Honey bee hive][]
Honey bees construct wax combs in cavities or manmade hives to store honey and house the brood.![Bumblebee nest][]
Bumblebee nests are often underground or in cavities containing a handful of wax pots with honey and developing bees.
The honey bee’s engineering expertise results in sprawling, symmetrical combs while the bumblebee nest is a much simpler affair.
On Flowers
One last view to highlight their roles as pollinators.![Honey bee covered in pollen][]
A honey bee’s body is well-designed for carrying pollen in baskets on their legs.![Bumblebee covered in pollen][]
Fuzzy bumblebees get coated from head to toe in pollen as they move between flowers.
Though different in technique, both provide the invaluable ecosystem service of pollination.
Whether in the field or using a guide, pictures reveal the subtle variations that distinguish these two popular bees. A closer look at body hair, wings, legs, faces, stingers, flight paths, foraging habits, nests, and pollen collecting offers visual clues to tell honey bees and bumblebees apart. Being able to recognize their unique appearances and behaviors will give you a deeper appreciation of these vitally important pollinators.
Bumble bees nest underground and are less social than honey bees
Wild honey bees like to build elaborate nests above ground to protect themselves from predators. You might find them high up in a tree, or under the ledge of your house. Their hives are very well put together, with neat little hexagonal cells that the worker bees build with great skill. It is truly an amazing piece of engineering! Thousands of honey bees live together in a colony. Each has their own job based on their age and work together to create a thriving family.
Bumble bees usually build their nests underground, usually in an old field mouse burrow or a crack in the foundation of a house. A few bumble bees come up from our basement every spring as they wake up from their winter sleep. We live in an century home with a stone foundation. The bumble bees love to find the spaces between the stones to build a home. Some honey bees may live in the same hive for many years. But bumble bees build a new nest every spring. The queen is the only one that makes it through the winter. When the weather gets warmer, she comes out to find a new place to nest. You’ll see her flying low to the ground in a zig zag search for the perfect spot. Once she’s found it she will begin building wax ‘pots’ to lay her eggs. She fills it with nectar and pollen for the larva to eat once they hatch. As soon as she has a few worker bees to help her, the queen will stop looking for food and simply lay eggs. The worker bees take over all the other responsibilities of foraging, nursing the young, and defense. Jobs are randomly assigned based on the colony’s need, which only has a few hundred members. Watch this video by David Goulson for a look inside a bumble bee nest. How is the structure of a honey bee vs bumble bee nest different?.
Bumble bees are native to North America
Bumble bees are one of our native North American bee species, along with sweat bees and mason bees. People first brought honey bees to North America in the early 1600s so that they could make honey and wax. They have since become one of the most important pollinators in our ecosystems.
Bumblebees and honeybees – what’s the difference?
FAQ
How can you tell a honey bee from a bumblebee?
What is the difference between a honey bee and bumble bee?
Do bumble bees sting or bite?
What does a honey bee look like?
What is a bumble bee?
The Bumblebee or Bumble Bee (Bombus terrestris) is important pollinator of both crops and wildflowers. Bumblebees are increasingly cultured for agricultural use. Insect isolated on white background. photos of bumble bee stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images The Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris).
Are bumble bees a honey bee?
Unlike honey bees, bumble bees live in nests and smaller colonies. They only store small amounts of food in the nest. Also, bumble bees have a wider body and fuzzier appearance compared to honey bees. Similar to honey bees, bumble bees have pollen sacs on their hind legs.
Do bumblebees make honey?
Yes, bumblebees make honey. But, they do not make enough honey to be worthy of beekeeping, but bumblebees, like honey bees, are still an asset to our local and global ecosystems. A colony of bumblebees ranges from 50-500 bees, which is not enough bees to produce enough honey to collect.
How many bumble bee photos are there?
Browse 58,200+ photos of bumble bee stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus and Bee on Purple Coneflower Take any image from “not quite” to “just right” See how you can modify existing images—or generate entirely new ones—to your exact needs.
Are honey bees bigger than bumble bee?
In most cases, honey bees are smaller and sleeker than bumble bees-with a less fuzzy appearance. Among the different types or races of honey bees – you will not find a lot of size variation. While bumble bees tend to be larger, there are more than 250 bumble bee species and they come in all sizes.
What does a bumble bee look like?
Bumble bees are easy to spot with their round fuzzy bodies with black and yellow stripes and white tails. Depending on the bumble bee species, they may have red or yellow tails. There are 250 individual species of bumble bees, most of which have similar identifying features. The large bees with the hairy bodies and legs grow up to 0.6” (1.7 cm).