Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an aphislion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; “honeybee” is equivalent to “Johnsmith.”

—From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass

The non-native European Honey Bee is the state insect of:

Arkansas
Georgia
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
New Jersey
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Not one native bee is a state insect. The closest relative of a North American native bee to make the list is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the state insect of New Mexico.

Update! Minnesota now has a state bee as well as a state insect. Bombus affinis, the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, has been so honored. Good work, Minnesota!

Tag - bee diseases

Should you try to save a failing colony?

How common is foul brood in honey?

Bee poop on flowers: the best in sanitary practices?

What is idiopathic brood disease syndrome?

Why did they die?

Airtime for bees

Avoid a honey drip free-for-all

A bit more about VSH

The perils of spring for bees

Nosema and dysentery are not the same

Rotate brood combs for a healthier nursery

Tropilaelaps clareae: another scary creature for bees

Using extender patties is a criminal act

Chronic bee paralysis virus