Do All Bees Make Honey?

Quick answer: No. Out of roughly 20,000 bee species in the world, only a small number make and store honey. These are the honey bees (genus Apis) and the stingless bees (tribe Meliponini). Bumblebees store tiny amounts of nectar, but most bees, including carpenter bees, ground bees and other solitary bees, don't make honey at all.

If you've ever watched a bee on a flower, you've probably assumed it was busy making honey. It is one of the most common things people believe about bees, and it isn't quite true.

When scientists count every kind of bee on Earth, they find around 20,000 species. They come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny sweat bees to fuzzy bumblebees and the giant bees of Asia. Only a handful of them make honey, from little stingless bees in Mexico to the giant cliff bees behind rhododendron mad honey.

In this guide you'll learn which bees make honey, why most bees don't, what bumblebees, carpenter bees and killer bees really do, and which bee makes the rarest honey in the world.

Do All Bees Make Honey?

No, most bees don't make honey. Only bees that live in large, long-lasting colonies make and store it.

It comes down to lifestyle. Around three-quarters of all bee species are solitary. Each female builds her own small nest, lays her eggs and feeds her young without any help. They don't have a colony to feed through the winter, so they have no reason to make and store honey.

They still collect nectar and pollen, but they mix it into a small ball of food called "bee bread" for their larvae. It is food for one baby bee, not a store of honey.

Which Bees Make Honey?

Two groups of bees make real honey: honey bees and stingless bees.

Honey Bees (Apis)

They are the best-known honey makers. There are eight species of honey bee, all in the genus Apis, and every one of them makes and stores honey in wax comb.

It is the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, that makes almost all the honey sold in shops. Others, like the Eastern honey bee in Asia and the giant honey bees of the Himalayas, make honey that people collect from wild nests.

Stingless Bees (Meliponini)

They are the other honey makers, and many people have never heard of them. There are more than 500 species of stingless bees, living in tropical parts of Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.

It isn't true that they can't defend themselves. Their sting is too small to use, so they bite instead. They store honey in little pots made of wax and plant resin, and their honey is thinner and more sour than regular honey. In Mexico and Central America, people have kept stingless bees since the time of the Maya.

Why Do Only Some Bees Make Honey?

It is all about surviving hard times. Bees make honey so the colony has food to eat when flowers aren't blooming.

When a honey bee colony lives through winter, or a long dry season, thousands of bees need to eat for months with no fresh nectar. They solve this by collecting extra nectar in the good months and storing it as honey, a thick, long-lasting food that doesn't spoil. Inside the hive, worker bees add enzymes and fan their wings to turn nectar into honey, drying it out until it is thick enough to seal in the comb.

If a bee lives alone for just a few weeks, or if its colony dies off in autumn, storing honey simply isn't worth the effort. That's why so few bees make it.

Do Bumble Bees Make Honey?

They do, but only a little. Bumblebees store small amounts of nectar in round wax "honey pots" inside their nest, which they use as a short-term snack on rainy days.

It isn't enough for people to harvest. A bumblebee colony usually has only a few hundred bees, and in most places the whole colony dies in autumn except for the new queens. They have no need to store food for the winter.

Do Carpenter Bees Make Honey?

No. Carpenter bees are solitary bees that drill tunnels into wood to make their nests.

They collect nectar and pollen, but they pack it into small balls of bee bread for each egg, not into honeycomb. They don't live in colonies, so they never make or store honey.

Do Ground Bees Make Honey?

No. Ground bees, such as mining bees and many sweat bees, dig small nests in the soil.

They are solitary, just like carpenter bees, and they feed their young with pollen and nectar balls instead of honey. If you see bees flying in and out of little holes in your lawn in spring, they aren't making honey down there.

Do Killer Bees Make Honey?

Yes. "Killer bees" are Africanized honey bees, a hybrid of the Western honey bee, so they make honey just like other honey bees.

They are found in parts of South America, Central America and the southern US. They are much more defensive than ordinary honey bees, which is how they got their nickname, but their honey is regular honey.

Do Wasps and Yellow Jackets Make Honey?

No, wasps and yellow jackets don't make honey. They build paper nests and feed their young on insects and other protein.

There is one rare exception: the Mexican honey wasp, found in Central and South America, does store a small amount of honey. It is a curiosity, not a source of honey for people.

How Do Different Bees Compare?

It is easier to see the differences side by side.

Which Bee Makes the Rarest Mad Honey?

The Himalayan giant honey bee, Apis laboriosa, is the largest honey bee in the world. It produces the strong, potent mad honey found in the Himalayan regions of Nepal.

They live only in the Himalayas, building one huge comb on bare cliff faces between about 2,500 and 4,000 metres. These bees can't be kept in hives, so every drop of their honey comes from a wild nest.

When the rhododendrons bloom in spring, the bees feed on their nectar. That nectar contains natural compounds called grayanotoxins, which pass into the honey and give it its red colour and famous effects.

It is harvested only twice a year, in spring and autumn, and every harvest depends on the weather and the bloom. That’s what makes it the rarest honey on Earth.

The spring harvest is the stronger of the two. It is collected when the rhododendrons are in full bloom, so the honey is darker red and contains more grayanotoxin. The autumn harvest comes after the monsoon, when the bees feed on a wider mix of flowers, so it is lighter in colour and milder in effect.

Why Are Bees Important Even If They Don't Make Honey?

They are some of the most important pollinators on Earth, whether they make honey or not.

When a bee moves from flower to flower, it carries pollen that helps plants make fruit and seeds. Many solitary bees, like mason bees and bumblebees, are actually better at pollinating certain crops than honey bees. Apples, blueberries, tomatoes and many wildflowers rely on them.

It is the same in the Himalayas. Wild giant honey bees pollinate the rhododendron forests and mountain crops that few other insects can reach.

They are protected by the people who know them best. Traditional Gurung mad honey hunters leave part of every nest untouched, so the colonies can keep pollinating and come back the next season.

Final Thoughts on Which Bees Make Honey

It surprises most people to learn that the vast majority of bees never make honey. Only honey bees and stingless bees do, because they live in big colonies that need food stored for hard times.

They all play their part, though. The solitary bees in your garden pollinate flowers and crops, while a few social bees fill their combs with honey. And high on the cliffs of Nepal, one giant bee makes a honey so rare that it is still collected by hand: mad honey.

If you’re looking for a trusted place to buy real hallucinating honey from Nepal, Best Mad Honey sources it directly from Gurung honey hunters in the Lamjung and Kaski districts. There are four varieties to choose from, every batch is lab tested for purity and strength, and orders ship worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Bees Make Honey?

Honey bees (genus Apis) and stingless bees (tribe Meliponini) make honey. Bumblebees store a little nectar, but not enough to harvest.

2. Are Honey Bees the Only Bees That Make Honey?

No. Stingless bees in tropical regions also make honey, which they store in small wax and resin pots. It is thinner and more sour than honey bee honey.

3. How Many Bee Species Make Honey?

Only a small fraction. Of about 20,000 bee species, there are 8 honey bee species and a few hundred stingless bee species that make honey.

4. Do Mason Bees Make Honey?

No. Mason bees are solitary bees that feed their young with balls of pollen and nectar. They don't make or store honey.

5. Why Do Bees Make Honey?

Bees make honey to feed the colony when flowers aren't blooming, such as during winter or a long dry season. Honey keeps for a long time without spoiling.