BEE, (superfamily Apoidea), any of more than 20,000 species of insects in the suborder Apocrita (order Hymenoptera), including the familiar honeybee (Apis) and bumblebee (Bombus and Psithyrus) as well as thousands more wasplike and flylike bees. Adults range in size from about 2 mm to 4 cm (about 0.08–1.6 inches).
Bees are closely related to certain types of wasps, the principal biological difference between them being that bees (except for parasitic bees) provide their young with a mixture of pollen and honey, whereas wasps feed their young animal food or provision their nests with insects or spiders. Associated with this difference in food preference are certain structural differences, the most essential being that wasps are covered with unbranched hairs, whereas bees have at least a few branched or feathered hairs to which pollen often clings.
