Editing Bee (section)

=== Fossils ===
The oldest non-compression bee fossil is ''[[Cretotrigona prisca]]'', a [[Apinae|corbiculate bee]] of [[Late Cretaceous]] age (~70 mya) found in [[New Jersey amber]].<ref name="Cardinal danforth 2011">{{cite journal |author1=Cardinal, Sophie |author2=Danforth, Bryan N. |year=2011 |title=The Antiquity and Evolutionary History of Social Behavior in Bees |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=e21086 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...621086C |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0021086 |pmc=3113908 |pmid=21695157 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A fossil from the early Cretaceous (~100 mya), ''[[Melittosphex burmensis]]'', was initially considered "an extinct lineage of pollen-collecting Apoidea [[Cladistics|sister]] to the modern bees",<ref name="Poinar">{{cite journal |author1=Poinar, G. O. |author2=Danforth, B. N. |year=2006 |title=A fossil bee from Early Cretaceous Burmese amber |url=http://fossilinsects.net/pdfs/Poinar_Danforth_2006_MelittosphexBurmese.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Science |volume=314 |issue=5799 |page=614 |doi=10.1126/science.1134103 |pmid=17068254 |s2cid=28047407 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204122518/http://fossilinsects.net/pdfs/Poinar_Danforth_2006_MelittosphexBurmese.pdf |archive-date=4 December 2012}}</ref> but subsequent research has rejected the claim that ''Melittosphex'' is a bee, or even a member of the superfamily [[Apoidea]] to which bees belong, instead treating the lineage as ''[[incertae sedis]]'' within the [[Aculeata]].<ref name="Allommation">{{Cite journal |last1=Rosa |first1=B. B. |last2=Melo |first2=G. A. R. |year=2021 |title=Apoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=122 |pages=Article 104770 |bibcode=2021CrRes.12204770R |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104770 |issn=0195-6671 |s2cid=234071940}}</ref>

The [[Allodapini]] (within the Apidae) appeared around 53 Mya.<ref name="danforth2012">{{cite journal |last1=Danforth |first1=Bryan |last2=Cardinal |first2=Sophie |last3=Praz |first3=Christophe |last4=Almeida |first4=Eduardo |last5=Michez |first5=Denis |s2cid=28274420 |title=The Impact of Molecular Data on Our Understanding of Bee Phylogeny and Evolution |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |date=28 August 2012 |volume= 58 |pages=57–78 |doi=10.1146/annurev-ento-120811-153633 |pmid=22934982 }}</ref>
The Colletidae appear as fossils only from the late [[Oligocene]] (~25 Mya) to early [[Miocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Almeida |first1=Eduardo A. B. |last2=Pie |first2=Marcio R. |last3=Brady |first3=Sean G. |last4=Danforth |first4=Bryan N. |title=Biogeography and diversification of colletid bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae): emerging patterns from the southern end of the world |journal=Journal of Biogeography |year=2012 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=526–544 |url=http://entomology.si.edu/staffpages/Brady/2012_AlmeidaPieBradyDanforth_jBiogeog.pdf |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02624.x |bibcode=2012JBiog..39..526A |s2cid=34626231 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921025319/http://entomology.si.edu/StaffPages/Brady/2012_AlmeidaPieBradyDanforth_jBiogeog.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>
The Melittidae are known from ''Palaeomacropis eocenicus'' in the [[Ypresian|Early Eocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Michez |first1=Denis |last2=Nel |first2=Andre |last3=Menier |first3=Jean-Jacques |last4=Rasmont |first4=Pierre |title=The oldest fossil of a melittid bee (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) from the early Eocene of Oise (France) |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |year=2007 |volume=150 |issue=4 |pages=701–709 |url=http://www.atlashymenoptera.net/biblio/194_Michez_et_al_2007_Oldest_Melittid_from_Oise_Palaeomacropis.pdf |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00307.x |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175837/http://www.atlashymenoptera.net/biblio/194_Michez_et_al_2007_Oldest_Melittid_from_Oise_Palaeomacropis.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015|doi-access=free }}</ref>
The Megachilidae are known from trace fossils (characteristic leaf cuttings) from the [[Eocene|Middle Eocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sarzetti |first1=Laura C. |last2=Lanandeira |first2=Conrad C. |last3=Genise |first3=Jorge F. |title=A Leafcutter Bee Trace Fossil from the Middle Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina, and a Review of Megachilid (Hymenoptera) Ichnology |journal=Palaeontology |year=2008 |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=933–994 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00787.x |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229562255 |bibcode=2008Palgy..51..933S |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123512/http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Conrad_Labandeira/publication/229562255_A_LEAFCUTTER_BEE_TRACE_FOSSIL_FROM_THE_MIDDLE_EOCENE_OF_PATAGONIA_ARGENTINA_AND_A_REVIEW_OF_MEGACHILID_%28HYMENOPTERA%29_ICHNOLOGY/links/53fe0d4b0cf23bb019bd1b59.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015|hdl=11336/100644 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
The Andrenidae are known from the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, around 34 Mya, of the Florissant shale.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dewulf |first1=Alexandre |last2=De Meulemeester |first2=Thibaut |last3=Dehon |first3=Manuel |last4=Engel |first4=Michael S. |last5=Michez |first5=Denis |title=A new interpretation of the bee fossil Melitta willardi Cockerell (Hymenoptera, Melittidae) based on geometric morphometrics of the wing |journal=ZooKeys |year=2014 |issue=389 |pages=35–48 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.389.7076 |pmid=24715773 |pmc=3974431|doi-access=free |bibcode=2014ZooK..389...35D }}</ref>
The Halictidae first appear in the Early Eocene<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Engel | first1=M.S. | last2=Archibald | first2=S.B. | year=2003 | title=An Early Eocene bee (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) from Quilchena, British Columbia | doi=10.4039/n02-030| journal=The Canadian Entomologist | volume=135 | issue=1| pages=63–69| hdl=1808/16473 | s2cid=54053341 | url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/1808/16473/1/Engel_CE_135%281%2963.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812132942/https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/1808/16473/1/Engel_CE_135%281%2963.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-12 |url-status=live | hdl-access=free }}</ref> with species<ref name="Engel1995">{{cite journal |last1=Engel |first1=M.S. |year=1995 |title=''Neocorynura electra'', a New Fossil Bee Species from Dominican Amber (Hymenoptera:Halictidae) |journal= Journal of the New York Entomological Society |volume=103 |pages=317–323 |jstor=25010174 |issue=3}}</ref><ref name="Engel2000">{{cite journal |last1=Engel |first1=M.S. |year=2000 |title=Classification of the bee tribe Augochlorini (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=250 |pages=1 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/1598/1/B250.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110015144/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/1598/1/B250.pdf |archive-date=10 January 2011|doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2000)250<0001:COTBTA>2.0.CO;2 |hdl=2246/1598 |s2cid=85810077 }}</ref> found in amber. The Stenotritidae are known from fossil brood cells of [[Pleistocene]] age.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Houston | first1=T.F. | year=1987 | title=Fossil brood cells of stenotritid bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from the Pleistocene of South Australia | url=http://eurekamag.com/research/001/840/001840568.php | journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia | volume=1111–2 | pages=93–97 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701102937/http://eurekamag.com/research/001/840/001840568.php | archive-date=1 July 2015}}</ref>