Knowing the different types of bees matters more than it might seem. Honey bees, bumble bees, and solitary bees all pollinate and play important roles.
The bee family
Britain is home to around 270 bee species. One of them is the honey bee. Twenty-four are bumble bees. The rest, the vast majority, are solitary bees, working alone rather than in a colony.
That's the first surprise for most people: honey bees are a small slice of a much bigger picture. Every species plays a slightly different role in pollinating British gardens and farmland.
Honey bees
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the ones we know best, because we keep them. A single hive can hold tens of thousands of bees, all working toward one shared goal.
A few things mark them out:
- Appearance: slender, golden-brown, less fuzzy than a bumblebee
- Behaviour: highly social, living in a colony that persists year-round
- Home: a hive or hollow, built from wax comb
- Diet: they make and store honey, enough to see the whole colony through winter
That last point is the one closest to our hearts. We only ever take the honey a hive can comfortably spare, soaked into whisky, rum, vodka, or tequila back at the farm. Everything else stays exactly where the bees need it.
Bumblebees
Bumblebees (genus Bombus) are the ones most people picture when they hear the word "bee." Round, fuzzy, unmistakably endearing, and a little clumsy in flight, which is roughly where the name comes from.
Key differences from honey bees:
- Appearance: larger, rounder, densely furry, often banded in yellow and black
- Behaviour: social, but only for a single season; a bumble bee colony is small (a few hundred at most)
- Home: often underground, in old rodent burrows or thick grass
- Diet: they make a little honey, just enough to feed the colony through a few days
They're also brilliant at something honey bees struggle with: buzz pollination, vibrating their flight muscles to shake pollen loose from flowers like tomatoes. Our beekeepers see them working the same wildflower borders as our own bees most mornings.
Solitary bees
Solitary bees are the quiet majority, over 240 UK species, including mason bees, mining bees, and leafcutter bees. No hive, no colony, no queen. Each female builds and provisions her own nest.
- Appearance: varies hugely by species; some resemble tiny honey bees, others look more like flies or wasps
- Behaviour: solitary, as the name suggests, though many nest in loose aggregations nearby one another
- Home: holes in wood, hollow plant stems, bare soil, bee hotels
- Diet: each female stocks her own nest cell with pollen and nectar for her larvae, then seals it and moves on
Solitary bees rarely sting, since there's no colony to defend, and they're often overlooked entirely. Many are excellent pollinators. Some studies suggest they're more efficient, flower-for-flower, than honey bees.
How to tell them apart
A quick way to sort what you're looking at:
- Fuzzy and round, bumbling along? Likely a bumble bee.
- Sleek, golden, moving with purpose near a hive? Likely a honey bee.
- Small, solitary, disappearing into a hole in a wall or a bee hotel? Likely a solitary bee.
It isn't foolproof. Some hoverflies mimic bees closely enough to fool an experienced eye, and solitary bee species vary enormously. But it's a solid starting point for anyone standing in a garden trying to work out what just flew past.
Supporting all bee species
The good news: gardens genuinely help, and small changes add up.
- Leave a patch of ground bare or slightly untidy for ground-nesting solitary bees
- Plant a mix of flowers that bloom from early spring through late autumn
- Install a bee hotel for cavity-nesting species
- Avoid pesticides where possible, especially during flowering periods
- Let a corner of lawn grow a little wild
We've built a bee-friendly wildflower garden around our own apiary for exactly this reason, and it's rarely quiet, with activity from honey bees, bumble bees, and solitary species all sharing the same patch of Cotswolds countryside without much fuss.
Bee Blog at Beeble
We only harvest what our hives can spare; we've trained over 500 people through our beekeeping courses. We support Bees for Development and the Bee Better Project at HMP Hindley.
If this piece has left you curious about beekeeping, our courses are hands-on and open to complete beginners. And for more on bee biology, conservation, and life inside our Wiltshire hives, there's plenty more on the Bee Blog.
