9 Types of Bees in Tennessee You Can Spot in Your Own Backyard
October 14, 2026
The bee most people picture, the honey bee, is not even native to Tennessee. The state’s real pollinator workforce is far bigger and stranger. Tennessee is home to about 350 species of native bees, according to Tennessee State Parks.
This guide covers nine of the types of bees in Tennessee that homeowners, gardeners, and hikers are most likely to see. They include fuzzy bumble bees, wood-tunneling carpenter bees, metallic sweat bees, and a few nonnative arrivals. For a wider look at the whole group, the breakdown of how many bee types exist shows where Tennessee’s species fit.
The table below gives a quick field reference before the species profiles.
| Bee | Group | Typical Nesting Spot | Where Often Seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown-belted Bumble Bee | Social bumble bee | Ground cavities, sometimes above ground | Gardens, parks, roadsides |
| Eastern Carpenter Bee | Large carpenter bee | Tunnels bored in wood | Decks, eaves, fences |
| Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee | Sweat bee | Underground burrows | Flower beds, sunny clearings |
| American Bumble Bee | Social bumble bee | Grassy areas near the ground | Meadows, pastures, wildflower patches |
| European Woolcarder Bee | Nonnative cavity nester | Existing cavities | Lamb’s ear and other fuzzy-leaved plants |
| Sculptured Resin Bee | Nonnative resin bee | Old tunnels in wood | Wooded edges, suburban yards |
| Two-spotted Bumble Bee | Social bumble bee | Cavities above or below ground | Early-spring blooms, gardens |
| Two-spotted Longhorn Bee | Solitary longhorn bee | Underground | Sunflowers, coneflowers |
| Honey Bee | Social, managed and feral | Hives, hollow trees, wall voids | Orchards, gardens, farms |
1. Brown-Belted Bumble Bee
The brown-belted bumble bee (Bombus griseocollis) is among the easiest bumble bees to find around Tennessee homes. It is one of the state’s most commonly found bees. Workers have a yellow, fuzzy thorax and a rusty-brown band across the abdomen, which gives the species its name.
Queens appear early in the year. Tennessee State Parks describes a newly emerged brown-belted queen in its early-spring bee feature, and each queen starts a colony alone before her first workers hatch. Once workers take over foraging, she stays in the nest and lays eggs for the rest of the season.
This species thrives in gardens, city parks, and field edges. It visits everything from clover to tomato blossoms, and its buzzing helps fruit and vegetable crops set. Gardeners in neighboring states will recognize the same bee, and the list of bees in Georgia shows how much range these species share across the Southeast.
2. Eastern Carpenter Bee
Eastern carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica) are the bees that hover near porch ceilings and deck rails every spring. The carpenter bees seen most in Middle Tennessee are eastern carpenter bees, with the yellow and black coloration of a bumble bee. The easiest way to tell them apart is the abdomen. Carpenter bees look like bumble bees, but their yellow striping stops before the abdomen. In practice, that means a shiny, bare black rear end.
Females chew round, tidy entrance holes in unpainted or weathered wood and tunnel in to lay eggs. Carpenter bees rarely sting and do not work together to protect a nest, but their tunnels can damage wood over time. US Pest Protection suggests checking exterior wood such as decks and stairs when these bees keep returning.
Important Note: Male carpenter bees hover aggressively near nests but have no stinger. Females can sting, though they rarely do unless handled.
Painted or sealed wood is far less attractive to them than bare timber. Property owners comparing carpenter bee damage with other wood-borers can also read about beetles found in Tennessee. Local pest professionals, such as All American Pest Control in Franklin, offer tips on telling the two bee types apart.
3. Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee
The bicolored striped sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens) is a small native bee with a jewel-like look. Its head and thorax shine metallic green, and the abdomen carries bold stripes, yellow and black in males. It is easy to mistake for a fly or small wasp at first glance.
Sweat bees get their name from a habit gardeners notice quickly. They are drawn to perspiration, and one may land on a sweaty forearm during yard work. They occasionally sting when swatted, but the venom usually causes only minor discomfort. Leaving them alone is the simplest policy.
This species nests in underground burrows, often in bare, sunny soil, and feeds on many plants, including clover, vetch, and aster. It also appears in the University of Tennessee’s native bee outreach. The Entomology and Plant Pathology department highlights a poster of Tennessee bees that includes blue-green sweat bees. For a broader view of the sweat bee group, the overview of different bee types is a handy companion.
4. American Bumble Bee
The American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) is a large, handsome grassland species with a mostly black body and a yellow-tinted front. It usually builds its nest in grassy areas, like meadows or lawns. Tennesseans find it most often on thistles, bee balm, and other tall summer flowers in open country.
This bee has become harder to find across much of its historic range, and conservation groups track it closely. Mowing less, leaving some field edges wild, and avoiding pesticides during bloom are practical ways landowners can help. Readers interested in prairie-edge species can compare notes with the bees of Oklahoma, where this bee also lives.
Pro Tip: Plant natives that bloom in sequence. A Tennessee pollinator handout from the Bee City USA program lists black-eyed Susan, butterfly milkweed, New England aster, purple coneflower, and rough blazingstar as good choices.
5. European Woolcarder Bee
The European woolcarder bee (Anthidium manicatum) is a stocky, yellow-spotted bee that is not native to North America. It was first recorded on the continent in New York in the 1960s and has since spread across much of the country. Females scrape fuzz from plants such as lamb’s ear and use it to line their nests, which is where the “woolcarder” name comes from.
Males are the memorable ones. They guard patches of flowers and ram or grapple with any other pollinator that lands, including honey bees and bumble bees. A sharp set of spines at the tip of the male’s abdomen helps him in these fights, though he cannot sting people.
Gardeners with lamb’s ear or sage will probably see this bee in summer, zipping between blooms in a straight patrol line. It is a good example of how introduced species can fit into a yard without much conflict. The guide to New Jersey bees covers other states where the woolcarder has settled in.
6. Sculptured Resin Bee
The sculptured resin bee (Megachile sculpturalis) is a large, dark bee native to East Asia. It was first found in North America in the 1990s, and it has since been reported across the eastern United States, including Tennessee. The body is black with a coppery tint and smoky wings, and it is bigger than most other leafcutter-family bees.
This species nests in pre-existing holes, often old carpenter bee tunnels in wood. It seals its brood cells with plant resin instead of leaves, a trait that gives resin bees their name. Researchers continue to study whether it competes with native cavity nesters such as carpenter bees and mason bees.
Most people never notice it. It tends to visit flowering trees and vines, and it does not defend its nest aggressively. Readers curious about other newcomers to the region can browse the broader list of insect types to see how many species have arrived from abroad.
7. Two-Spotted Bumble Bee
The two-spotted bumble bee (Bombus bimaculatus) is one of the first bumble bees active in a Tennessee spring. Queens start flying during the first warm days, when few flowers are open. They feed on early bloomers such as redbud and spring wildflowers, a point made by Tennessee State Parks, which notes that early spring is one of the leanest times for these pollinators.
This bumble bee has a yellow-haired thorax and a mostly black abdomen with some yellow at the front. It nests in cavities such as old rodent burrows, grass tussocks, or hollow spaces beneath leaf litter. The species adapts well to suburban yards, particularly those with a little untidy corner.
Planting early nectar sources helps queens start colonies. Many of those same plants feed butterfly and moth larvae, so a yard that supports this bee often supports other wildlife too. The guide to caterpillars in Tennessee names several species that depend on native plants.
8. Two-Spotted Longhorn Bee
The two-spotted longhorn bee (Melissodes bimaculatus) is a summer bee that belongs to a group named for its males. The males’ antennae are elongated, which is where these bees got their name. Bodies are fuzzy and dark with pale hair bands on the abdomen, and females carry pollen on thick hair on their hind legs.
Longhorn bees favor sunflower-family plants, including coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and wild sunflowers. They are solitary and nest underground, so there is no colony to defend. In late summer, males often sleep clinging to flower stems by their jaws, a quirky sight in meadows at dusk.
The group is diverse. Bird Watching HQ reports up to 30 species of long-horned bees in Tennessee, so identifying one to species usually takes a close look or a photo shared with a local naturalist.
9. Honey Bee
The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the best-known bee in Tennessee, even though it is a transplant. The species is native to Europe, Africa, and Western Asia. European colonists brought hives to North America in the early 1600s, and the bees have lived in the wild and in managed apiaries ever since.
Workers are slim and brownish, with fuzz on the thorax and softer banding than a wasp. Colonies are social and perennial, with a single queen and tens of thousands of workers at a summer peak. Honey bees build hives in hollow trees, rock crevices, and man-made structures such as beekeeping boxes, and occasionally inside walls or attics.
Beekeepers across the state keep honey bees for honey and crop pollination, and farmers rent hives for orchards. A University of Tennessee thesis on East Tennessee farms notes that wild bees may provide sufficient pollination services and have been identified as more efficient pollinators for some crops. That finding is a reminder that native species deserve protection too. The guide to types of honey bees explains the different races and strains kept by hobbyists.
Tennessee’s bees range from the territorial woolcarder to the quiet sweat bee, and nearly all of them are harmless to people who leave them alone. Planting native flowers in sequence, leaving a patch of bare soil, and holding off on pesticides supports the whole group. For readers who want more local wildlife, the same approach to observation works with other animals, from spiders in Tennessee to the bees buzzing above them.