How To Crochet a Bee: A Beginner-Friendly Tutorial

Everyone will be buzzing over your new bee friend with this quick and easy amigurumi pattern!

Whether you are new to the amigurumi process or a pro, you too can create a little bee orb to sit on your desk, or to squeeze when you’re stingin’ mad!

Time: 2-3 hours

Difficulty: Easy

Crochet bee in the hand outdoor

Materials:

Note:

  • The wonderful thing about amigurumi is that you can use any size yarn! The Just Chenille yarn is a size 6 plush yarn, but you can use whatever you have available. When choosing your hook size, it is important to go a few sizes down to keep the stitches nice and tight so no filling pops out. The Just Chenille yarn calls for an 8 mm hook, but I used a 5.5 mm hook.
  • You can also use whatever color yarn you desire! While traditional bee colors are very good, you can switch them up to make your bee unique. The basic colors of this pattern include the body, stripes, wings, and blush.

Crocheting Terms Used (US)

  • MR: Magic Ring
  • SC: Single Crochet (See our tutorial here!)
  • HDC: Half Double Crochet (See our tutorial here!)
  • INC: Increase (2 stitches in a single stitch- see our tutorial here!)
  • DEC: Decrease (I use the invisible decrease- see our tutorial here!)
  • Slip Stitch: A stitch that does not yarn over and adds a row without adding height
  • FO: Finish off (Slip stitch in the next stitch and pull through)

Let’s get started!

Note:

  • This pattern is worked in a continuous spiral. You do not finish off each round or do a chain stitch. It is helpful to use a stitch marker to note where each round begins. I place mine in the first stitch of every round. You may want to have more stitch markers for working with the black, but we’ll talk about that when we get to the color change.
  • The number in parentheses at the end of the round description is the number of stitches that should be in that row when you’re done with it.
  • Should you need to, it is very easy to remove the stitching you’ve done and try again. I’ve certainly had to do that. Make sure you are very careful to keep your stitch marker in the first stitch of each round you’re removing so you don’t have to undo the whole pattern!

Method

Starting in Yellow

Round 1- MR 6 (6)

Round 1- MR 6

Round 2- INC X6 (12)

Round 3- SC, INC X6 (18)

Round 4- 2SC, INC X6 (24)

Round 5- 3SC, INC X6 (30)

Round 6- 4SC, INC X6 (36)

Yellow Yarn

Note:

  • If you forget which round you’re on or need a break, simply count each round from the Magic Ring up to your hook. For example, in the picture above, I just finished Round 6.
  • Make sure that your work is on the correct side. You want to build the sphere from the ground up as seen in the picture below. The hook should be moving from right to left on the outside of the ring.

Change to Black in the last stitch of Round 6. (See our color change tutorial here!) Be sure to tie the ends of the two colors together tightly to keep the stitch tension uniform.

Slip Stitch Through Each Stitch (36) (optional)

Note:

  • This slip stitch round is optional as it is a technique to help smooth the color changes. Here is where it may be helpful to add some additional stitch markers. Black yarn is notoriously difficult to crochet with as seeing the individual stitches can be challenging. If you’re choosing to do non-traditional bee colors then this should not be a problem!

Round 7- 5SC, INC X6 (42)

Round 8- 5SC, INC X6

Round 8- 6SC, INC X6 (48)

Change to Yellow

Slip stitch in each stitch around (48) (optional)

Round 9-10- SC in each stitch (48)

Round 7- 5SC, INC X6

Weave in the End of the Magic Ring.

Attach safety eyes in between rounds 3 and 4 on the face.

attaching bee eyes

Embroider a smile in between the eyes. Loop the thread over the smile and pull it through for a tighter, brighter smile.

Embroider a smile

Embroider blush underneath the eyes (optional). Adding a little blush just ups the charm factor of this little buddy. Make sure you’re tying off your embroidery on the inside so that it doesn’t come undone. You could do the embroidery even after you have filled the bee and stitched it together, but I like to do it beforehand for easier access.

Embroider blush

At this point, the inside of your bee is looking quite the sight, but you’re about halfway done with the pattern!

Change to Black

Slip stitch in each stitch around (48) (optional)

the inside of a knitted toy

Round 11- 6SC, DEC X6 (42)

Round 12- 5SC, DEC X6 (36)

Change to Yellow

Slip stitch in each stitch around (36) (optional)

Round 13- 4SC, DEC X6 (30)

Round 14- 3SC, DEC X6 (24)

Round 15- 2SC, DEC X6 (18)

Round 16- SC, DEC X6 (12)

Densely stuffed toy with polyethylene filling inside

Stuff tightly. The bee is going to look a little boxy until you get enough poly fill inside to fill out those edges.

Round 17- DEC X6 (6)

FO: Using the needle, pull yarn through each stitch and fasten off before pulling through the bee, cutting, and hiding it back inside.

pulling yarn through each stitch

Wings (Make 2)

Round 1- MR 6 (6)

Wings Round 1- MR 6

Round 2- HDC INC X6 (12)

Weave in the end of the Magic Ring before attaching it to the bee.

Weave in the end of the Magic Ring

Attach wings. Pin to the top of the bee on the two rounds of yellow in the very middle. (See our tutorial for attaching amigurumi pieces here!)

Attaching wings

And there you have it! If you wanted to get fancy, you could add rice or sand inside for a weighted friend, or some good-smelling herbs like lavender.

funny Crochet bee

If you want to be able to microwave the bee for a heating pad, make sure you use all-natural yarn like cotton or wool, and switch out the safety eyes for embroidered ones.

When washing your bee, also check the label for the best cleaning practices. Your bee-utiful new friend is sure to please any way you make it!

Happy crocheting!

Kathryn

San Francisco based and crochet-obsessed writer, dreamer and creative spirit!