sweat bee
noun
: any of various small black or brownish bees (family Halictidae) that are attracted to perspiration
Examples of sweat bee in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bloodroot’s delicate white flowers are also highly attractive to early season pollinators, including native mining bees and sweat bees.
—
Lauren Landers, The Spruce, 6 Apr. 2026
Sun Exposure: Full sun, partial sun Soil Type: Clay, loam
Soil pH: Acidic
,
Goldenrod is positively abuzz with bees in fall, from tiny sweat bees to huge carpenter bees.
—Michelle Darrisaw, Southern Living, 1 Mar. 2026
Common bee species include mason bees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees and sweat bees, according to the city.
—Dana Afana, Detroit Free Press, 21 May 2024
The intricacy of how tiny iridescent sweat bees have evolved to extract pollen from swamp asters and other flowers is not arbitrary.
—Time, 12 July 2023
This mysterious insect, described recently in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, was an exceedingly rare gynandromorph—an animal that is anatomically half male, half female—the first one ever identified in the species Megalopta amoena, a type of sweat bee found in Central and South America.
—Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2020
This is the backend of a Lipotriches (plain sweat bee) collected in Australia.
—Discover Staff, Discover Magazine, 29 July 2015
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Lauren Landers, The Spruce, 6 Apr. 2026
Sun Exposure: Full sun, partial sun Soil Type: Clay, loam
Soil pH: Acidic
,
Goldenrod is positively abuzz with bees in fall, from tiny sweat bees to huge carpenter bees.
—Michelle Darrisaw, Southern Living, 1 Mar. 2026
Common bee species include mason bees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees and sweat bees, according to the city.
—Dana Afana, Detroit Free Press, 21 May 2024
The intricacy of how tiny iridescent sweat bees have evolved to extract pollen from swamp asters and other flowers is not arbitrary.
—Time, 12 July 2023
This mysterious insect, described recently in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, was an exceedingly rare gynandromorph—an animal that is anatomically half male, half female—the first one ever identified in the species Megalopta amoena, a type of sweat bee found in Central and South America.
—Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2020
This is the backend of a Lipotriches (plain sweat bee) collected in Australia.
—Discover Staff, Discover Magazine, 29 July 2015
Cite this Entry
“Sweat bee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweat%20bee. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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