The Official North Carolina State Insect

Honey Bee

The Honey Bee is the state insect of North Carolina, having been designated as such in 1973. This humble insect is an important pollinator of over 80% of the state’s agricultural crops. The Honey Bee is a social species, living in colonies of up to 80,000 bees. The colony is organized into a caste system with a single queen bee, hundreds of male drones, and tens of thousands of female worker bees. Worker bees are responsible for gathering nectar and pollen, producing honey, and caring for the young. Since the mid-1700s, North Carolina beekeepers have kept bees to produce honey and also to pollinate crops. Honey was a major export product of the state until the early 1900s. In 1973, fourth grade students from Charlotte, North Carolina, proposed that the Honey Bee be declared the official state insect of North Carolina. This proposal was unanimously approved by the North Carolina House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Honey Bee was officially adopted as the state insect.

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