Encyclopedia · Types of bees
Types of bees: a field guide to the world's 20,000+ species
Honey bees are just one kind of bee. Scientists have described more than 20,000 bee species worldwide, and about 4,000 are native to the United States. Most live alone, many nest in the ground, and most never make honey.
Updated 2026-11-10 · Fact-checked against the sources listed at the end.
How many kinds of bees are there?
More than 20,000 bee species have been described worldwide, in seven families, and new ones are still being found. North America north of Mexico has roughly 4,000 native species. Bees evolved from wasp ancestors and switched from hunting insects to eating pollen, which is why they are so hairy: the hairs collect pollen.
About 90% of bee species are solitary: each female builds and stocks her own nest. Only a small number, such as honey bees, bumble bees and stingless bees, live in true colonies.
The main groups of bees
| Bee | Group | Lifestyle | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honey bees | Apis | Social; perennial colonies of tens of thousands | The only bees that store large amounts of honey. Managed for honey and crop pollination. Full guide → |
| Bumble bees | Bombus, about 250 species | Social; annual colonies of dozens to a few hundred | Big and fuzzy, fly in cool weather and do buzz pollination, shaking pollen loose from tomatoes, peppers and blueberries. Only the new queens survive winter. |
| Stingless bees | Tribe Meliponini, 500+ species | Social; tropical | Have a stinger too small to use. Kept for thousands of years by the Maya, who raise Melipona beecheii; their honey is runnier and tangier. |
| Carpenter bees | Xylocopa | Mostly solitary | Large, shiny-black abdomen. Chew neat round tunnels in wood to nest. Males can't sting and often hover at people. |
| Mason bees | Osmia | Solitary | Nest in hollow stems and holes, walling cells with mud. The blue orchard bee is an outstanding fruit-tree pollinator in spring. |
| Leafcutter bees | Megachile | Solitary | Cut neat circles from leaves to line their nests. The alfalfa leafcutting bee is managed for alfalfa seed. |
| Mining bees | Andrena, 1,300+ species | Solitary, nest in the ground | Among the first bees of spring. Small mounds of soil with a hole in bare ground are their nests. |
| Sweat bees | Family Halictidae | Solitary to social | Small, often metallic green. Some are attracted to the salt in human sweat. Very common in gardens. |
| Plasterer & yellow-faced bees | Family Colletidae | Solitary | Line their nests with a waterproof, cellophane-like secretion. Seven Hawaiian yellow-faced bees were the first bees listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, in 2016. |
| Squash bees | Genus Xenoglossa (formerly Peponapis) | Solitary | Specialists that visit squash and pumpkin flowers at dawn, often before honey bees are awake. |
| Cuckoo bees | Several groups | Parasitic | Lay their eggs in other bees' nests instead of building their own, like cuckoo birds. |
Native bees: the quiet majority
Honey bees were brought to North America by European colonists in the 1600s. Long before that, native bees were pollinating the continent's plants, and they still do much of the work. Some native bees pollinate certain crops more efficiently than honey bees: squash bees for squash, blue orchard bees for apples and cherries, and bumble bees for tomatoes and blueberries.
About 70% of native bee species nest in the ground; most of the rest use hollow stems, beetle holes or dead wood. That's why bare soil and old plant stems are some of the most helpful things you can leave in a garden. How to help native bees →
Bee, wasp or fly? How to tell
| Feature | Bees | Wasps & hornets | Hover flies (bee look-alikes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Hairy, often fuzzy | Smooth and shiny, narrow "waist" | Smooth, like a fly |
| Food | Pollen and nectar | Hunt insects; adults also take sugar | Nectar and pollen |
| Wings | Four | Four, often folded lengthwise | Two |
| Eyes & antennae | Long antennae | Long antennae | Huge eyes, tiny stubby antennae |
| Behavior | Busy on flowers, rarely aggressive away from the nest | Some defend nests strongly; yellowjackets visit picnics | Hover in place; harmless, cannot sting |
Record holders
- Largest: Wallace's giant bee (Megachile pluto) of Indonesia, with a wingspan of about 2.5 inches (6 cm). It was rediscovered in the wild in 2019 after decades without a confirmed sighting.
- Among the smallest: Perdita minima of the U.S. Southwest, less than 2 mm long.
- Largest honey bee: the Himalayan giant honey bee, Apis laboriosa.
Frequently asked questions
How many types of bees are there?
More than 20,000 bee species have been described worldwide, including about 4,000 native to the United States. They range from social honey bees and bumble bees to solitary mason, leafcutter, mining and sweat bees.
Do all bees make honey?
No. Only a small number of bees store honey, mainly honey bees and stingless bees. Bumble bees store tiny amounts of nectar. Most bees are solitary and feed their young a mix of pollen and nectar.
Which bees do not sting?
Male bees of every species cannot sting. Stingless bees have stingers too small to use. Most solitary bees are very gentle and rarely sting unless handled.
What is the most common bee in my garden?
In most North American gardens you will see honey bees, bumble bees, small sweat bees and, in spring, mining and mason bees. A slow look at a flower patch usually reveals several kinds.
Sources
- USDA Forest Service and Pollinator Partnership, Bee Basics: An Introduction to Our Native Bees
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, rusty patched bumble bee listing (2017) and Hawaiian yellow-faced bees listing (2016)
- Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, native bee resources
- Michener, C. D., The Bees of the World, Johns Hopkins University Press
- Global Wildlife Conservation, rediscovery of Wallace's giant bee (2019)