There are over 20,700 different bee species in the world

1. There are over 20,700 different bee species (and counting) that have been discovered and described by science around the world. To put this in perspective, that’s more than all of the world’s bird and mammal species combined! New bee species continue to be found every year.

^{Image: Fauzan Maududdin / Adobe Stock}

2. In Australia alone, there are over 1,660 bee species known to science. Based on the rate of new discovery, it’s estimated that the total number is likely to be around 2,000–2,500 species.

3. While European honey bees and their few close relatives get all the glory for their honey and global ubiquity, there is actually a much larger group of honey bees in the world – the stingless honey bees.

^{Image: Dr Tobias Smith}

4. There are over 600 stingless honey bee species found across the tropical and subtropical regions around the world. These bees live in large colonies, usually in tree hollows, and they make delicious and healthy honey.

^{Image: Janelle / Adobe Stock}

5. Bumble bees – like European honey bees – are another famous group of bees, although none of these large, fluffy and cute bees are native to Australia. The only place to see bumble bees in Australia is in Tasmania, where one invasive species lives since being introduced from overseas in the 1990s.

^{Image: Dr Tobias Smith}

6. Australia’s biggest bees – some of which could be mistaken for bumble bees – are carpenter bees. These big bees make nests by chewing holes in dead wood of plants. Carpenter bees have gone extinct in some parts of Australia due to habitat loss and changed fire regimes.

^{Image: Dr Tobias Smith}

7. Australia’s tiny Euryglossina bees are some of the smallest bees in the world. The smallest known Euryglossina species is only 1.8 millimetres long. Despite most people having never heard of them, Euryglossina bees are common visitors to eucalyptus flowers across Australia.

^{Image: Dr Tobias Smith}