Honeybee is a flying insect closely related to wasp and ant. It is famous for its role in pollination. Among the most famous honeybee species, European honeybee is used to produce honey and beeswax. Honeybee is a monophyletic lineage of the superfamily apidea, which is currently considered as the anthophila branch. There are nearly 20000 known honeybees in seven to nine recognized families, although many of them are not described and the actual number may be higher. They are found in every continent except Antarctica and in every habitat on earth that contains insect pollinated flowering plants.

Some species, including bees, bumblebees and spineless bees, live in colonial societies. Honeybee is suitable to feed on nectar and pollen, the former is mainly used as energy source, while the latter is mainly used as protein and other nutrients. Most pollen is used as food for larvae. Bee pollination is very important in ecology and commerce; the decrease of wild bees increases the pollination value of commercial management of hives.

Bees vary in size, ranging from small, thornless bee species whose workers are less than 2 mm (0.08 inch) long to the largest leafcutter species, megachele Pluto, whose females can reach 39 mm (1.54 inch) long. The most common bee in the northern hemisphere is halictidae, but they are small and are often mistaken for wasps or flies. The vertebrate predators of bees include birds, such as hummingbirds; the predators of insects include bees and dragonflies.