Adult worker honeybees are 1/2 to 5/8 inch long, and the queens are 5/8 to 3/4 inch long. All are light to darkish orange-brown (resembling the color of honey) and hairy, with widened hind tarsi. Honeybees have a barbed stinger.

Honeybees are social insects that live in colonies as large as 20,000 to 80.000 workers and one queen per hive. There is a division of labor among individuals, usually by age. Workers are sterile and unable to reproduce. The whole colony can overwinter because they build up stores of food (honey and pollen) to feed on during cold weather. Colonies are established in voids, such as hollow trees and other naturally occurring above-ground cavities, but also in eaves, roofs, or wall voids in human structures, as well as any other suitable cavity. Honeybees prefer cavities with south and east facing entryways. When colonies outgrow the nest cavity or if the queen is dying, swarms occur. A honeybee swarm is not aggressive but will appear as a mass of bees on a tree limb or structure as scout bees look for a new suitable nest cavity. European honeybees will swarm once a year under favorable conditions. The queen leaves with the swarm and a new queen takes over duties in the old hive. Considering all the negative pressure on honeybees in the United States, from mites and disease to the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder of 2008 and on, when feral honeybees are encountered, they should be conserved, not destroyed.

Swarms are the most visible activity that honey bees exhibit, and they can be alarming to bystanders. Although not aggressive when swarming or foraging, honey bees will defend the colony from perceived threats, and they can sting. The risk of being stung is also an issue when walking barefoot in lawns that have many clover flowers. The honeybee stinger is barbed and stays in the flesh while the venom sac pumps venom into the wound. Meanwhile, the stinger and part of the abdomen of the bee is ripped open, resulting in death for each bee that has stung. People vary in their response to bee stings. Some react locally, with a swollen, painful, or itchy welt. Others can experience serious or even life-threatening allergic reactions.