bee purple

English

Noun

bee purple (countable and uncountable, plural bee purples)

1. A color that is a mixture of ultraviolet light and yellow light (the two extremes of the visual spectrum of the bee, analogous to the way purple for humans is a mixture of red and violet, the two extremes of the human visual spectrum).
   • 2010, Martha Scott, Honey Bee, Where Are You?:

     Karl von Frisch discovered that honey bees can see six colors—blue, blue-green, yellow, bee purple, ultraviolet, and bee violet.

Related terms

• bee violet