The busiest insects around
Bees are some of nature's hardest workers, and this word search gathers them. You'll be finding the buzzing BUMBLEBEE, the QUEEN at the heart of the COLONY, the busy WORKER and the lazy DRONE, all living together in the HIVE and making sweet HONEY.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the list, so the hive changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a busier swarm once the diagonals and backwards words appear on Hard.
Pollen, honey and the garden
Bees do far more than make honey, and the words are here. They visit each FLOWER to gather POLLEN and NECTAR, and as they go they POLLINATE the plants — which is why a buzzing GARDEN grows so well. Back at the NEST they build honeycomb from WAX, raise the next LARVA, and defend the colony with a STING. You'll spot the black-and-yellow STRIPES, the fast little WINGS, the whole SWARM on the move, and the BEEKEEPER who tends the APIARY.
Why bees matter so much
Bees are far more important than their honey, vital though that is. As they fly from FLOWER to FLOWER collecting NECTAR, they accidentally carry POLLEN with them, and this pollination is how a huge share of the plants we eat make their fruit and seeds — apples, strawberries, almonds and many more. It's often said that a great deal of the food on our plates depends on bees, which is why people worry so much about protecting them.
Inside the HIVE, a bee COLONY is a marvel of teamwork. A single QUEEN lays all the eggs, thousands of female WORKER bees do everything else — cleaning, building wax honeycomb, guarding and foraging — and the male DRONES have just one job. Bees even 'talk' by dancing: a clever waggle dance tells the others exactly which direction to fly and how far to find the best flowers. They only STING as a last defence, and most bees, like the gentle fuzzy BUMBLEBEE, would far rather get on with their work. That makes bees a brilliant nature and minibeasts topic.
Great for a minibeasts topic
It's a great fit for a nature or minibeasts lesson — Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words. Play online, print a PDF pack, or use Make Your Own to build a grid from your own bee words.
Frequently asked questions
What's in the Bees word search?
The world of bees — the hive, colony and swarm, the queen, worker and drone, plus honey, pollen, nectar, wax and how bees pollinate flowers, with the bumblebee, beekeeper and apiary. Each puzzle uses a fresh mix.
Who lives in the hive?
The QUEEN at the heart of the COLONY, the busy WORKER and the lazy DRONE, making HONEY from WAX — plus how they gather POLLEN and NECTAR to POLLINATE each FLOWER, the BUMBLEBEE, and the BEEKEEPER's APIARY.
Is it good for a minibeasts topic?
Great fit for a nature or minibeasts lesson. Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words.