• Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

• Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

• Insects (Class Insecta)

• Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

• Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies (Order Hymenoptera)

• Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees (Suborder Apocrita)

• Ants, Bees, and Stinging Wasps (Infraorder Aculeata)

• Bees and Apoid Wasps (Superfamily Apoidea)

• Bees (Epifamily Anthophila)

• ​Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies (Family Apidae)

​

This family includes many of the world's most familiar bees, such as honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees, cuckoo bees, stingless bees, and long-horned bees. Apid bees exhibit an extraordinary range of lifestyles, from solitary species that nest alone to highly social species that form complex colonies with queens, workers, and drones. Most members feed on nectar and pollen and are among the most important pollinators of wild plants and agricultural crops.