bee

Forms

1.A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.
- An angry Wasp th'one in a viall had, / Th'other in hers an hony-laden Bee.
- Bees pollinate many of the world’s crops, a service estimated to be worth $15 billion a year in America alone.
- He stood across in the other garden, beside a bush of pale Michaelmas daisies, watching the last bees crawl into the hive.
2.Any stinging flying insect, especially a wasp.(informal)
- Bee stings can be very painful.
3.A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
- Bee stings can be very painful.
4.A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
- The cellar […] was dug by a bee in a single day.
- There was but little variation in types of buildings in the pioneer period: house, church, store, barn and mill were usually much alike except in size, and a raising bee was the ordinary means of their erection.

Rare· #4198

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰey-der.

Proto-Germanic *bijǭ

Proto-West Germanic *bijā

Old English bēo

Middle English be

English bee