humblebee

• humble-bee

From humble +‎ bee, where humble is from Old French (h)umble, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Ancient Greek χαμαλός (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humī (“on the ground”), thus a "humblebee" is a "ground bee" or a "bee of the earth," based on many species nesting in underground burrows.

humblebee (plural humblebees)

1. (obsolete) A bumblebee.
   • 1595 or 1596, William Shakespeare, Love's Labor's Lost

     The fox, the ape, and the humble-bee,

     Were still at odds, being but three.

   • 1800's, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Humblebee

     Burly, dozing humblebee,

     Where thou art is clime for me.

   • 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species

     Hence I have very little doubt, that if the whole genus of humble-bees became extinct or very rare in England, the heartsease and red clover would become very rare, or wholly disappear.