humble-bee
/ˈhʌmb(ə)lbiː
/noun
Another term for bumblebee.In a famous passage of the Origin of Species he described how red clover plants depended upon humble-bees for pollination....
- Among the humble-bees, for instance, the workers do not dream of renouncing love, whereas our domestic bee lives in a state of perpetual chastity.
- Some hive-bees seem to use the holes made by the humble-bees.
Origin
Late Middle English: probably from Middle Low German hummelbē, from hummel 'to buzz' + bē 'bee'.