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bumblebee

/ˌbʌmbəlˈbi/
/ˈbʌmbəlbi/
IPA guide

Other forms: bumblebees

A bumblebee is a large, flying insect that pollenates flowers. Bumblebees are fatter and fuzzier than honeybees. They may look cute, but they can still sting you.

A bumblebee is a completely different species than a honeybee, though it does make honey. Bumblebees produce honey in much smaller quantities, and it isn't harvested and eaten by people. Bumblebees also live in smaller groups, of up to four hundred bees, compared to honeybees' hives that have as many as 60,000 bees. In some places, they're called humblebees, from the Middle English humbul-be, which echoes the "hum" of a bee.

Definitions of bumblebee
  1. noun
    robust hairy social bee of temperate regions
    synonyms: humblebee
    see moresee less
    type of:
    bee
    any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species
Pronunciation
US
/ˌbʌmbəlˈbi/
UK
/ˈbʌmbəlbi/
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