======Bees======
=====Object Information=====
  * **Type:** Insect (Mundane and Magical varieties)
  * **Owners:** [[Aberforth Dumbledore]] is a known keeper of mundane bees.
=====Description and Appearance=====
Bees in the [[wizarding world]] encompass both mundane, non-magical insects and various bee-like magical creatures. Mundane honeybees are kept by wizards, such as the colony maintained by [[Aberforth Dumbledore]] in the garden behind the [[Hog's Head Inn]].
Several magical insects bear similarities to bees:
  * **[[Glumbumble]]**: A grey, furry-bodied flying insect that produces a treacle known to induce melancholy. They nest in dark, secluded places like hollow trees or caves.
  * **[[Billywig]]**: An insect native to Australia, the [[Billywig]] is about half an inch long and a vivid sapphire blue. Its wings are attached to the top of its head and rotate, causing it to spin as it flies. It has a long, thin stinger at the bottom of its body.
=====Magical Properties and Usage=====
While mundane bees produce [[honey]] and wax, which are used in various foods and likely potions, their magical counterparts possess more extraordinary properties.
  * **[[Glumbumble]] Treacle:** The treacle produced by [[Glumbumble]]s is used as an antidote to the hysteria caused by eating [[Alihotsy]] leaves. [[Horace Slughorn]] was seen collecting this substance from a nest in [[Hagrid]]'s garden.
  * **[[Billywig]] Stings:** A sting from a [[Billywig]] causes the victim to feel giddy and then to levitate. Dried [[Billywig]] stings are used as a potion ingredient and are a key component in the popular sweet, [[Fizzing Whizbees]].
=====Role in the Story=====
The most direct appearance of bees is in //Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows//. [[Harry Potter]], [[Hermione Granger]], and [[Ron Weasley]] see a "small and rather overgrown garden" with "the sagging remains of a beehive" upon their arrival at the [[Hog's Head Inn]]. [[Aberforth Dumbledore]] later complains that the bees have been bad-tempered due to a wet summer, a mundane detail that grounds the tense search for [[Horcrux]]es in a moment of normalcy.
Symbolically, bees are most famously connected to [[Albus Dumbledore]]. The character's name itself is derived from an old word for "bumblebee," reflecting a key aspect of his personality as imagined by the author.
=====Behind the Scenes=====
[[J.K. Rowling]] has stated in interviews that she chose the name "Dumbledore" because it is an 18th-century word for bumblebee. Her reasoning was that she pictured the [[Headmaster]] walking around the grounds of [[Hogwarts]] humming to himself, much like a buzzing bee. (J.K. Rowling interview)