History Main / BeePeople

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* ''Literature/{{Coalescent}}'', by Creator/StephenBaxter, features a colony of humans that excluded themselves from humanity after the fall of Rome, and evolved into eusocial lifeforms by the 21st century.
* ''Literature/ConsiderHerWays'', a 1956 novella by Creator/JohnWyndham, is about a scientist who tests a new mind drug. She wakes up, with almost no memory, in a bizarre LadyLand filled with gigantic Mothers in frilly pastel gowns (she's one herself, to her horror), small efficient Servitors, and strong hearty Workers. It seems that it's a bit more than TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and an experimental virus designed to exterminate brown rats has gotten loose, mutated, and killed every man on Earth. The women developed techniques for parthenogenesis, and organized themselves like colonies of ants. In 1964 this was made into an episode of ''Series/TheAlfredHitchcockHour'', starring Creator/BarbaraBarrie (Liz on ''Series/BarneyMiller'') as Jane Waterleigh, with veteran stage actress Gladys Cooper as the historian Laura, who fills Jane in on the facts.

* Creator/FrankHerbert:
** In ''Hellstrom's Hive'', although the Bee People are fully human, they emulate hive insects to an extremely disturbing extent.
** In ''The Green Brain'', the insects of the Amazon Rainforest have been taken over by a disembodied brain fed by legions of ants. Their goal is to destroy human habitation in the Amazon.

* ''Literature/RogueQueen'', set in Creator/LSpragueDeCamp's ''Literature/ViagensInterplanetarias'' universe, features the Ormazdians, a race of medieval-age humanoid monotreme aliens who have a fairly scientifically accurate hive society with egg-laying queens, sterile female workers, and male drones who only live to fertilize the queen. There is also a subspecies that has both worker and soldier females. The Ormazdians' sexual development is triggered by meat proteins, so the queens explicitly forbid workers from eating meat, claiming that it will poison them. Naturally humans arrive on Ormazd, help some workers they've befriended discover the truth, and destroy the entire Ormazdian societal structure. This is portrayed as ultimately for the best, as the hive society causes stagnation. (The Ormazdians should not be confused with the Krishnans, ''another'' race of medieval-age humanoid monotremes from the ''Viagens Interplanetarias'' universe, who do not live in a hive structure.)

* ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'' has mriswith, a race that came from a GoneHorriblyRight attempt to give wizards invisibility. While individually similar to LizardFolk (covered with scales and possessing ChameleonCamouflage), they procreate through a dragon sized, {{pheromone|s}} communicating HiveQueen.

* Vergil, the ancient Mediterranean poet, loved this [[OlderThanFeudalism trope]]. He devoted an entire section of his ''Eclogues'' to bees, and often uses bee metaphors for well-functioning cities, e.g., for [[Literature/TheAeneid Dido and Carthage]] before LoveRuinsTheRealm or the [[PatrioticFervor Romans themselves]]. Vergil is particularly notable in that he puts a ''king'' at the top of bee society; in his time, people believed that a male ruled the hive. Bees crop up in other contemporary and earlier works, too.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'': The Locust Horde is ruled by a Queen, with an army consisting of LOTS and LOTS of [[WeHaveReserves disposable drones]]. Like the Bugrom example from ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'', the drones are fairly monsterous, but oddly enough the queen looks like a human woman with a few cosmetic insect bits. This is because the Locusts have an insidious but not fully fleshed out backstory.

* ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' averts the tendency for insectoids to always be Bee People. The Space Pirates of the series have ''some'' degree of insectoid traits made more pronounced by their armor, the Chozo have insectoid and avian traits, and the Luminoth are distinctly mothlike, but none have ever been seriously portrayed as BeePeople. Some strains of metroids grow reproductive queens but have no social structure beyond pack hunting. The spiderish Ing, however, combine BeePeople with TheLegionsOfHell.

* ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'': The Geneti-line of creatures, [[XenomorphXerox heavily inspired by the Xenomorphs]], have the basic [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/genetimorph.htm Genetimorph]] as the worker/solder and [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/genetisaur.htm Genetisaur]] as the reproductive queen.

* ''Literature/ConsiderHerWays'', a 1956 novella by Creator/JohnWyndham, is about a scientist who tests a new mind drug. She wakes up, with almost no memory, in a bizarre LadyLand filled with gigantic Mothers in frilly pastel gowns (she's one herself, to her horror), small efficient Servitors, and strong hearty Workers. It seems that it's a bit more than TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and an experimental virus designed to exterminate brown rats has gotten loose, mutated, and killed every man on Earth. The women developed techniques for parthenogenesis, and organized themselves like colonies of ants. In 1964 this was made into an episode of ''Series/TheAlfredHitchcockHour'', starring Barbara Barrie (Liz on ''Series/BarneyMiller'') as Jane Waterleigh, with veteran stage actress Gladys Cooper as the historian Laura, who fills Jane in on the facts.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'': The Zerg. Oddly, the Queen neither lays eggs nor rules the Hive Clusters--the Hives themselves spawn larvae periodically; Overlords rules individual clusters, Cerebrates control broods, and the Overmind directs the Swarm as a whole. The Queens are defined in the manual as an odd sort of unit whose primary duties seem to be to ''guard'' larva and eggs.
** The Queens do rule over their own private swarm of creatures that they make use of to perform their ingame abilities.
** In the [[VideoGame/StarCraftII sequel]], Queens have been re-purposed as hive-tenders and also have the ability to spawn larvae, but only at a hive.

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->''[[ComicBook/AmazonsAttack "Bees. My God."]]'' (Well, we had to have a [[ObligatoryJoke stinger]].)

* ''Anime/BloodPlus'': The vampires are a cross between regular vampires and BeePeople to make them [[OurVampiresAreDifferent different]].

** They have one [[HiveQueen "Queen"]] -- Lucy -- who can (theoretically) reproduce traditionally (biologically) in addition to [[spoiler: spreading TheVirus that causes the condition to be passed on to normal humans' future children]]
** Many "drones" (selpelits) whose life spans are half a normal human's/diclonius's and are sterile [[spoiler: though they can also spread TheVirus, it just produces more selpelits]]
** They share a weak [[PsychicLink telepathic link]] that allows them to sense when another Diclonius is nearby

* ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld'': One episode has a woman raised by a hive of intelligent bees.

** The Chimerons from the serial ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E3DeltaAndTheBannermen Delta and the Bannermen]]'' are implied to have been like this, and they're overtly compared to bees throughout the episode. An unusual portrayal in that the entire species apart from the Queen and her unhatched daughter has been wiped out (until the Queen's new human boyfriend decides to become a Chimeron).
** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet The Web Planet]]'', a unique serial in that all characters other than the TARDIS crew are insectoid aliens, the Menoptera are bee people with an explicitly bee-like appearance - however, their social structure is fairly egalitarian with a slight matriarchal tendency (being inspired by certain bee species other than honeybees). This is also subverted by the ant-race the Zarbi, who are enslaved by the Animus - a creature first assumed by the Menoptera to be their queen but later revealed to be an alien invader.

* Series/MortalKombatConquest: The Kreeyans are an all-female race who have a queen. That queen mates with a male of a different species, who will often die as a result. Offspring mature in massive hives until they come out as adults.
* ''Series/SoWeird'' had an episode featuring literal BeePeople. Made somewhat hilarious, as despite them having a queen, eating flowers, spitting out wax, and decorating their town with honeycomb patterns, nobody seemed to be able to figure out what was going on.

** The Neural Parasites -- originally intended as the Borg's first wave of attack, but later {{retcon}}ned into something different.
* In ''Series/{{V|2009}}'', the Visitors had a queen named Anna who could spawn thousands of eggs to raise an army of warrior Visitors, who were a specialized caste of fighters. The queen was the only one who could so reproduce, and the male who fertilized her died afterwards (in this case, by being devoured by the queen for nourishment).

** The Chimerons from the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E3DeltaAndTheBannermen Delta and the Bannermen]]" are implied to have been like this, and they're overtly compared to bees throughout the episode. An unusual portrayal in that the entire species apart from the Queen and her unhatched daughter has been wiped out (until the Queen's new human boyfriend decides to become a Chimeron).
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet The Web Planet]]", the Menoptera are bee people, with an explicitly beelike appearance - however, their social structure is fairly egalitarian with a slight matriarchal tendency (being inspired by certain bee species other than honeybees). This is also subverted by the ant-race the Zarbi, who are enslaved by the Animus - a creature first assumed by the Menoptera to be their queen but later revealed to be an alien invader.

** The Chimerons from the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E3DeltaAndTheBannermen Delta and the Bannermen]]" are implied to have been like this (and they're overtly compared to bees throughout the episode). An unusual portrayal in that the entire species apart from the Queen and her unhatched daughter has been wiped out (until the Queen's new human boyfriend decides to become a Chimeron).

** The Chimerons from the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E3DeltaAndTheBannermen Delta and the Bannermen]]" are implied to have been like this (and they're overtly compared to bees throughout the episode). An unusual portrayal in that the entire species apart from the Queen has been wiped out.

[[InsectQueen The queen]] herself looks [[LargeAndInCharge different]] from everyone else, although she will act like a human queen and is implied to be the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking strongest]], instead of just being an [[BabyFactory egg factory]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'': The Soul Bee tribe is this trope to a ''T''. Even the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking asskicking]] part due to her being in a fighting game.

** The Collectors are another race of Bee People, quite distinct from the Rachni. They show up in the second game, but they are mentioned in the first game as well. They release swarms of bugs to sting and immobilize their victims, who they "collect."[[spoiler:The [[{{Precursors}} Protheans]] they were created from were far less insect-like, though.]]
** The Salarians are a pretty straight example with males outnumbering females by a factor of 40. There seems to be no real difference in physical and mental capabilities between the sexes, but out of tradition politics, government, and administration are the exclusive domain of females, while pretty much everything else is done by males. Also, unfertilized eggs become male and fertilized become female; they deliberately keep the number of females low to prevent explosive population growth.

** In Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, all faeries are born from and obey their absolute ruler, [[https://scryfall.com/card/mma/193/oona-queen-of-the-fae Oona, Queen of the Fae].

A race with an ''allegedly'' eusocial structure; roughly, one queen and lots of workers. Since this inevitably brings to mind ants and bees, it's often a OneGenderRace with some military/warrior overtones. ''Almost always'' occurs if the race is [[InsectoidAliens even vaguely insectoid]], even though this isn't a common set-up for most insects. It's just very easy to associate a hive with a civilization structure, as bees and ants are often seen as extremely advanced insects who act a little like us.

Which group is designated as "drones" [[InsectGenderBender depends on the writer's knowledge of what those actually are]], but they rarely get a break. Occasionally there's a small subversion that shows that drones do perform vital functions ''besides'' breeding, that most people just don't notice.

[[InsectQueen The queen]] herself looks [[LargeAndInCharge different]] from everyone else, although she will act like a human queen and is implied to be the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking strongest]], instead of just being an [[BabyFactory egg factory.]]

Compare HiveCasteSystem and FantasticCasteSystem. Related to IntelligentGerbil.

** They have one [[HiveQueen "Queen"]]-- Lucy-- who can (theoretically) reproduce traditionally (biologically) in addition to [[spoiler: spreading TheVirus that causes the condition to be passed on to normal humans' future children]]

* In ''Anime/StarBlazers,'' the inhabitants of planet Beeland are literal bee people, ruled by a queen. Unfortunately, the queen is a collaborator who has sold her people out to the Gamilons, and her people hate her for it.

** In Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, all faeries are born from and obey their absolute ruler, [[https://scryfall.com/card/mma/193/oona-queen-of-the-fae Oona, Queen of the Fae.]]

* The Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica has the Queen Bee Zazzala, the leader of a world of bee-like beings.

* ''Fanfic/HalkegeniaOnline'' has Pixies - a One-Gender Race born in a symbiotic relationship with their Garden, and have a caste system. They also undergo a metamorphosis.

** In ''Hellstrom's Hive'', although the BeePeople are fully human, they emulate hive insects to an extremely disturbing extent.

* ''Literature/ManAfterMan'': The Hivers from are human-descended herbivores which evolved into this, living in massive hives and depend upon a single breeding female for reproduction. However, they aren't ruled by their queens -- they aren't really ruled by anyone, in fact, as none of their kind really have the imagination or intelligence to do so. Rather, Hiver society runs entirely on instinct and deeply ingrained traditions, each member doing their part because it doesn't really occur to them to do anything else.