Question: how long is a average bee

Michelle Taylor answered on 20 Jun 2013:

A really interesting question because it doesn’t have an answer!

When we measure the average of something it is most useful if we are asking about a group of things that are all the same – so for example, the height of 14 year old girls. When we are interested in groups of things that are very different then it is more interesting to know the difference between the two groups.

So in this case, there are 20, 000 different species of bees, the smallest is Trigona minima – it has no sting and measures a tiny 2.1mm. Now compare this with the largest species of bee which is Megachile pluto and measures a whopping 39mm!!