To make it easier to picture the various types of bees and bumble bees in the wild, browse the images below.

 

The honey bees, apis mellifera, originally from Europe, can be found all over North America, They are a social insect living in large groups called hives. They are made up of females, called workers, who collect the nectar and pollen that feed the hive, a queen, whose sole responsibility is to lay eggs, and the males, or drones, whose only responsibility is to fertilize the queen. 

 

The common eastern bumble bee (bombus impatiens) is a nectar feeder and likes thistles, goldenrods, pickerelweeds, and azaleas. It is medium tongued and can be found from Ontario down the eastern United States to Florida and west to Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Wyoming, from temperate forests to great plains and backyards.