English

Alternative forms

• humble-bee

Noun

humblebee ‎(plural humblebees)

1. (obsolete) A bumblebee.
   • 1595 or 1596, William Shakespeare, Love's Labor's Lost

     The fox, the ape, and the humble-bee,

     Were still at odds, being but three.

   • 1800's, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Humblebee

     Burly, dozing humblebee,

     Where thou art is clime for me.

   • 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species

     Hence I have very little doubt, that if the whole genus of humble-bees became extinct or very rare in England, the heartsease and red clover would become very rare, or wholly disappear.