Honeybee
Beneficial insect · Pollinator
Honeybees are social bees that visit many garden flowers and crops for nectar and pollen. In home landscapes, they are important pollinators of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals. Their activity is most obvious on sunny, mild days when flowers are open.
How to identify it
Adults are medium-sized bees with fuzzy thoraxes, banded abdomens, and pollen-carrying structures on the hind legs. Workers are the bees most commonly seen on flowers, while males are broader-eyed and queens are less often encountered outside a colony. Honeybee brood develops within wax comb cells inside the nest.
How it helps your garden
Honeybees improve pollination for many flowering crops, including cucurbits, berries, tree fruits, and seed-producing vegetables. Good pollination can increase fruit set, seed set, and crop uniformity. They also move pollen among many ornamental and native plants.
How to attract it
Provide a broad selection of flowers with overlapping bloom times from early spring into fall. Include herbs, flowering shrubs, annuals, and native perennials so nectar and pollen are available across the season. Offer clean, shallow water with stones or floating material for safe landing. Reduce excessive tidiness in the landscape so flowering weeds and less formal garden edges can contribute forage when appropriate.
Tips
Honeybees are usually focused on forage and are less likely to pay attention to people when actively visiting flowers. Morning and midday flower activity can help you judge whether your garden offers enough bloom diversity. They work best as part of a larger pollinator community that includes native bees and flies.
General guidance for US gardens. Broad insecticide sprays harm beneficial insects along with pests; for a local pest-management plan, contact your Cooperative Extension office. Page updated Aug 4, 2026.