🐝 Honey bee vs Ruby-throated hummingbird 🐦
Here are the honey bee and the ruby-throated hummingbird side by side.
Honey bee: no checked size yet, so it isn't drawn.
| Row | 🐝 Honey bee | 🐦 Ruby-throated hummingbird |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed We don't have a checked number for the honey bee yet. | no checked number yet | 60 mph97 km/h1 |
| Weight We don't have a checked number for the honey bee yet. | no checked number yet | 0.11 to 0.12 oz3 to 3.5 g2 |
| Lives The ruby-throated hummingbird usually lives about 25 times as long as the honey bee. | 0.12 to 0.5 years0.12 to 0.5 years3 | 5 to 9 years5 to 9 years4 |
| Eats The honey bee eats plants; the ruby-throated hummingbird eats plants and animals. | nectar and pollen from flowers | nectar from flowers, and tiny insects |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | gardens, fields and orchards on every continent but Antarctica | eastern North America in summer; Mexico and Central America in winter |
Which one? Honey bee or ruby-throated hummingbird
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the honey bee yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
Compare two more
Getting the animals ready…
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/honey-bee-vs-hummingbird
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Northeast Temperate Network, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
- USDA, Pollinator Facts (National Pollinator Week factsheet), checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.