Honeybee

The honeybee (ミツバチ, Mitsubachi) is a small insect that can be found buzzing around flowers, sometimes settling on them. They are very common, but should not be confused with the bee, a closely-related species that is found in trees. An important difference from the bee is that they do not sting the player.

Donating to the Museum
As with all insects in the series, the honeybee can be donated to the Museum followed by a small talk by Blathers, the curator.

In Wild World
The curator of the museum, Blathers, will accept the honeybee as a donation to the insect exhibit. He will talk about the honeybee briefly before accepting it:

"The stinger of a honeybee is actually connected to its internal organs, eh wot? When it ... the organs get pulled out. What an abhorrent image! I'm terribly sorry, but nature is not always family friendly!"

The honeybee can be found at the middle-left side of the first room of the bugs section, on the flowers.

In City Folk
Blathers will talk about the honeybee with disgust again in City Folk-

"Honeybees are rather famous among bees for the impressive teamwork they exhibit, eh wot? I've even heard they will swarm over enemies many times their size in an attempt to suffocate them. I must admit, it makes them seem rather like a bunch of brave warriors... Even so, when I imagine a massive swarm of bees, a different phrase comes to mind... "BLEEECCCH!""

It can be found in the lower-left section of the exhibit, buzzing the roses.

In New Leaf
Upon being donated, the bee can be found in the first room of the bug exhibit flying around and resting on the bushes near the back of the room. The exhibit has this to say about the Honeybee:

"Honeybees gather nectar from flowers and make honey, making them integral in many ecosystems. The worker bees are females and the only ones capable of stinging, though that is rather rare. The hive does contain males, but after mating season, they are all sent away. Honey has been consumed since ancient times. Cave paintings 8,000 years old show people eating honey."

Encyclopedia Information
When the player has caught a honeybee, they can find information about the insect in the bug menu. Below is the information regarding the honeybee:

Further Information
Apis mellifera, the European honeybee, is a species of honeybee that is used frequently around the world to produce honey. There are many subspecies of this bee due to human intervention. This breed of honeybee originated from Africa.

Interestingly, the European honeybee has been subject to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), an unexplained phenomenon in which all worker bees leave their colony and die, leaving the hive without any means of supporting itself.