20th May is World Bee Day, and since the world would be screwed if these little guys died out, we want to spend a moment appreciating what they do for us by enjoying some of the finest bee tattoos out there!

Bee tattoos can symbolise a lot of things - togetherness, loyalty, hard work, love, and selflessness - or perhaps your customer just thinks they’re cute. We’ve taken our favourite interpretations of the theme from our incredible sponsored artists to create a huge spread of sizes, styles and symbolic meanings. Enjoy!

Johnny Domus & Debora Cherrys

Two incredible neo-traditional artists incorporated bees into these portraits of women! Johnny Domus went for a black and grey depiction of an African woman, intersected by a hive and its bees, while Debora Cherrys worked a large bee into the headdress of this woman with a cherry tattoo on her cheek.

Samanta Annie & Sam Ford

As a colour realism expert, it’s no surprise that Samanta Annie has made both this ladybird in flight and bumblebee taking pollen from a thistle so realistic. Sam Ford’s version of a similar composition features more of a watercolour style, with her white-tailed bumblebee snacking on some lavender. Bees’ eyes are more sensitive to the blue end of the colour spectrum, so these are just the kind of flower they’re most likely to visit!

Ben Dunning & Jay Butler

Even without colour, artists can create incredibly realistic bees. Ben Dunning’s collarbone bee is brought to life with the subtle shading on its fur as well as the white highlights, while Jay Butler’s supersized bee having a snack is practically photorealistic. One out of every three mouthfuls of food depends on pollinators like bees, so it’s important we appreciate their hard work!

Ryan Smith & Jairo Carmona

These ornamental bees adorned with jewels make for distinctive decorative pieces. Ryan Smith’s super vibrant bee stands out perfectly against the scrolling blackwork behind it, while Jairo Carmona’s bejewelled bee with spiky legs has a delicate, brooch-like appearance.

Lee Bunker & Simon Mora

Now we’re playing with bees: these two blackwork artists each mashed up a bee with something else to create a unique tattoo. In Lee Bunker’s inner arm piece, a bee is worked into the blade of an ornate knife. Simon Mora goes for a slightly cuter approach with his “bumblebunny”, still making sure to get the iconic bent antennae of bumblebees.

Achilleas Aber & Piotr Gie

A little more neo-traditional for you here, with two gorgeously detailed bees. Achilleas Aber created an ornamental queen bee with wings spread to match the petals and leaves beneath it, while Piotr Gie made a sick handbanger with a round, stylised bee resting itself on a chrysanthemum. Did you know that queen bees lay up to 2,000 eggs in a day?

Priit Salusoo & Adrian de Largue

If you’ve never found bees a little bit creepy, now’s the time to start. Priit Salusoo’s blackwork bee uses negative space cleverly to show the bee breaking out of this dark chest piece, while Adrian de Largue’s large, detailed stomach tattoo shows the bee's furry legs in all their glory - clearly showing the four wings which hook together when flying.

Giovanni GTA & Ivana Belakova

We have two interesting interpretations of the theme here - Giovanni GTA has worked this fuzzy bumblebee into one of his signature lip pieces, with golden honey leaking out from the mouth. Honey is the only food humans eat that is made by insects, which is pretty weird when you think about it! Ivana Belakova created this hollow-bodied bee with wings spread, using colour sparingly for an avant-garde new school style.

Lepa Dinis & Rachel Pinette

Two small but perfectly formed bees for you here! Lepa Dinis’ little bee is done so crisply, and the small wandering flight line coming from the flower makes it really feel like part of the existing piece - or even like it’s doing a waggle dance to show other bees where the food is. Meanwhile, Rachel Pinette’s is so small and delicate it looks unnervingly authentic - complete with a little shadow to add depth and realism.

Hettie Baker & Lena Diamanti

These slightly creepy interpretations of the theme are definitely worth a closer look at. Hettie Baker’s usual pastel colour style is used to stunning effect on this slightly surreal, desaturated bee in motion. Lena Diamanti created this unholy image of a creepy cyclops monster with bees drinking its tears (and yes, there are bees that drink tears - just usually not from humans).

Nadine Dohr & Rachel Honeywell

Our first hand-poked tattoo on the list, Nadine Dohr’s fine line and dotwork bee in profile is clear, cute and neatly designed! Rachel Honeywell’s full colour bee can be seen with its large eyes shining as it approaches this branch of blossoming flowers.

Isobel Morton & Hattie Cox

We have two interpretations of a bee feeding here - Isobel Morton’s big chubby bumblebee is getting its fill from some flowers, and she’s also added her signature touch of a heart over the bee’s fully abdomen. Hattie Cox uses negative space to create the background of this open pomegranate as a couple of bees go to town on it. Bees are associated in Greek mythology with Persephone, who was tied to the Underworld by consuming pomegranate seeds!

Michelle Maddison & Keely Glitters

These two stylised bees, like Isobel Morton’s above, feature a specific symbol on their abdomen. Michelle Maddison’s shiny-bodied honey bee is sporting a Celtic triskele symbol in front of some delicious-looking honeycombs, while this simple blackwork bee by Keely Glitters has a dotwork crescent moon between its wings.

Makkala Rose & Dean Gunther

There are tens of thousands of types of bees, but only one makes honey - the honey bee! This gap filler by Makkala Rose shows a manuka honeycomb, with a bee taking pollen from the New Zealand native leptospermum scoparium bush. While we couldn’t tell you the pedigree of Dean Gunther’s honey, his colour realism skills have made it look good enough to eat! Honey is sort of magic - it’s great for wounds, can last for thousands of years, and eating locally-made honey can even help with hay fever symptoms.

Well we hope you’ve enjoyed our collection of bee tattoos, and maybe learned a little something about this hugely varied species of insects!