honeybee

IPA/ˈhʌnibiː/
KK[hˈʌnibˌi]IPA/ˈhʌnibiː/

honeybee — noun

  • honeybeesingular
  • honeybeesplural

1. a flying insect that collects nectar from flowers and lives in a large colony, p

1.nounB1
Definition

a flying insect that collects nectar from flowers and lives in a large colony, producing sweet honey inside its wax hive

Example

Honeybees collect nectar from flowers and turn it into sweet honey inside their hive.

often plural: honeybees + collect nectar / turn into honey

A honeybee landed on a sunflower and covered its legs with bright yellow pollen.

Common collocations
  • worker honeybee
  • honeybee colony
  • honeybee hive
  • honeybee population
  • honeybee species
  • thousands of honeybees
Synonyms
  • bee

    broader term that includes honeybees, bumblebees, and many other species; less precise

Grammar Patterns

countable noun

usually plural when referring to the species as a whole

Usage Note

Often used in the plural form (honeybees) when talking about the species or a group rather than one individual insect. The singular form (a honeybee) usually refers to a specific single insect.

Common Mistakes

I saw a honey bee in the garden.
I saw a honeybee in the garden.
The compound word is written as one word, not two separate words.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A honeybee is a specific type of bee known for making honey and living in large, organized colonies with a wax hive. The word bee is the general term covering thousands of species, including honeybees, bumblebees, and solitary bees. Bumblebees are larger and hairier than honeybees, live in smaller groups, and produce far less honey. Wasps are not bees at all — they have smooth bodies, build paper-like nests, and can sting multiple times, but they do not produce honey. For example: 'The honeybees flew back to their hive with pollen,' but 'A bumblebee buzzed heavily from one flower to the next.'

honeybee ↗bee ↗bumblebee ↗wasp ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • keep honeybees
  • colony of honeybees
  • swarm of honeybees
  • honeybee population decline

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Formed by joining two Old English words: 'hunig' (honey) and 'bēo' (bee). The compound 'honeybee' has been used in English since at least the 1500s. Unlike 'bee' which is a general term, 'honeybee' was specifically created to name the species that produces honey for people to collect.