BEE, the name given to a large group of insects forming the superfamily Apoidea of the order HYMENOPTERA (q.v.). Their feathery. The labium and maxillae are developed in the form of a proboscis for extracting nectar, the principal part concerned being the ligula which is modified to form the so-called tongue. Adaptations for pollen-collecting are found on the hind legs, the tibia and first joint of the tarsus usually being dilated and densely covered with pollen-carrying hairs ; in some bees the under side of the abdomen is also beset with regularly arranged hairs.
The eggs of bees are laid singly in chambers or cells, each nest containing several or, in the hive bee, many thousand cells: along with each egg sufficient food is deposited to nourish the chief distinguishing features are correlated with their habit of obtaining pollen and nectar from flowers. Most species of bees are hairy and over parts of the body the hairs are branched or larva until it pupates. Nectar and pollen form the food of bees, and their larvae (or brood) are fed upon the same ingredients except that the nectar is regurgitated as honey before being supplied to them. The majority of bees are "solitary," like other insects, and are represented by ordinary males and females, each female constructing a nest for her brood. On the other hand, the bumble-bees, the hive-bee and the "stingless" bees of the tropics are "social" insects living in large communities. In ad dition to fertile females (queens) and males,, such communities comprise a far greater number of other females, "workers," with imperfectly developed ovaries. Social bees construct nests out of wax secreted by themselves. The social species are treated separately (see BEE