solitary bee

noun

1. any of numerous bees, as the leaf-cutting bees, that do not live in a community.

Word History and Origins

Origin of solitary bee¹

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

Buzzing around me, as if seeking some companionship on that lonely bluff, was a solitary bee.

From Project Gutenberg

He once saw with delight "a solitary bee nipping a leaf round till it exactly fitted the front of a hole."

From Project Gutenberg

Their eyes fell, at the same moment, upon one solitary bee that was standing upon the inside of the flower-pot.

From Project Gutenberg

One kind of solitary bee, for example, builds in empty snail-shells, and another in small hollows like keyholes.

From Project Gutenberg

The cells are provisioned like those of any other solitary bee with pollen, etc., and the egg is laid upon it.

From Project Gutenberg