Parts of a Bumble Bee – Head, Thorax, Abdomen and Wings

All 13 parts on the diagram

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From the side 10

Head The front section. It carries the eyes, the antennae and the mouthparts.
Thorax The middle section. The legs and the wings join here.
Abdomen The back section, and the biggest. The stinger is at its tip.
Antennae Two feelers for smelling and touching. Each has an elbow part way along.
Compound eyes Two large eyes, each made of many tiny light detectors.
Legs Six legs in three pairs, all joined to the thorax.
Mandibles A pair of jaws for biting and chewing.
Tongue (proboscis) A long tube for sucking up nectar. It folds away under the head in flight.
Pollen basket Carries pollen back to the nest. It is a bare, shiny patch on each hind leg, fringed with long hairs.
Stinger A sharp point at the tip of the abdomen. Queens and workers have one; males do not.

From above 3

Forewing The larger front wing on each side.
Hind wing The smaller back wing on each side. A row of tiny hooks holds it to the forewing in flight.
Ocelli (simple eyes) Three small simple eyes on top of the head. They sit between the two big eyes.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 in at least two of these. (1) Arizona State University, Ask A Biologist, Bee anatomy, https://askabiologist.asu.edu/honey-bee-anatomy (head, thorax, abdomen, antenna, compound eye, ocelli, mandibles, proboscis, forewings, hind wings, three pairs of legs, pollen basket on the hind leg, stinger). (2) Wikipedia, English edition, Bee and Bumblebee, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee (compound eyes and three ocelli, elbowed antennae, mandibles and proboscis, thorax with three pairs of legs and two pairs of wings, hind wings hooked to the forewings, pollen baskets on the hind legs, sting; a bumble bee's body is round and furry, its tongue folds under the head in flight, queens and workers can sting). (3) Bumblebee.org, The bumblebee body and The bumblebee sting, https://www.bumblebee.org/body.htm and https://www.bumblebee.org/bodySting.htm (head with eyes, mouthparts and antennae; thorax with wings and legs; abdomen with the sting; two pairs of wings held together by hooks; two compound eyes and three ocelli; the tongue folded under the head; a shiny flat pollen basket fringed with long hairs on females; males have no sting). Detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The body parts of a bee are a head with antennae and eyes, a furry thorax that carries six legs and four wings, and a striped abdomen. Label the bee here, part by part: this one is a bumble bee.

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From the side, then from above

Numbers 1 to 6 are the body parts of a bumblebee from the side: the head, the thorax, the abdomen, the antennae, a compound eye and the legs. Numbers 7 to 10 are smaller: the mandibles, the tongue, the pollen basket on the back leg and the stinger. Numbers 11 to 13 are on the bee from above: the forewing, the hind wing and the three ocelli. For a parts of a bee worksheet, print the drawing blank.

Head, thorax, abdomen: every insect has these three sections, in this order.
A bumble bee with a lump of pollen on its back leg is a female. Males have no pollen basket.

Questions and answers

What are the three main body parts of a bee?

The head, the thorax and the abdomen. The head carries the eyes, the antennae and the mouthparts. The six legs and four wings join the thorax. The abdomen is the striped back section, with the stinger at its tip.

How many wings does a bumble bee have?

Four: a forewing and a smaller hind wing on each side. A row of tiny hooks holds each pair together in flight, so they can look like one wing.

How many eyes does a bee have?

Five. Two large compound eyes sit on the sides of the head, and three small simple eyes, called ocelli, sit on top of it.

What is the difference between a bumble bee and a honey bee?

Look at the body. A bumble bee is larger, broader and rounder, with a thick coat of soft hair and a rounded tip to its abdomen. A honey bee is slimmer. Both carry pollen in baskets on their hind legs.