 According to the Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) , the term " bumblebee " was first recorded as having been used in the English language in the 1530 work Lesclarcissement by John Palsgrave , " I bomme , as a bombyll bee dothe . " However the OED also states that the term " humblebee " predates it , having first been used in 1450 in Fysshynge wyth Angle , " In Juyll the greshop & the humbylbee in the medow . " The latter term was used in A Midsummer Night 's Dream ( circa 1600 ) by William Shakespeare , " The honie @-@ bags steale from the humble Bees . " An old provincial name , " dumbledor " , also denoted a buzzing insect such as a bumblebee or cockchafer , " dumble " probably imitating the sound of these insects , while " dor " meant " beetle " . In On the Origin of Species ( 1859 ) , Charles Darwin speculated about " humble @-@ bees " and their interactions with other species : 
