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Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of . The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including and , but also includes (also used for honey production), , euglossini, nomadinae, and a number of other less widely known groups. BugGuide.Net: the Family Apidae (of bees) . accessed 6.23.2013 Many are valuable in natural and for agricultural .Michener,
The old family Apidae contained four tribes (Apinae: Apini, Euglossini and Bombinae: Bombini, Meliponini) which have been reclassified as tribes of the subfamily Apinae, along with all of the former tribes and subfamilies of Anthophoridae and the former family Ctenoplectridae, which was demoted to tribe status. The trend to move groups down in taxonomic rank has been taken further by a 2005 Brazilian classification that places all existing bee families together under the name "Apidae", but it has not been widely accepted in the literature since that time.
The earliest known fossil apid is the Late Cretaceous-aged stingless bee Cretotrigona, suggesting that a significant evolutionary radiation into their extant clades must have already occurred among bees prior to the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The single known specimen is of a worker, suggesting that eusociality must have already evolved by this point as well.
/ref> However, colonies are small, usually comprising only a few females. Mikát M, Fraňková T, Benda D, Straka J (2022) Evidence of sociality in European small carpenter bees ( Ceratina
The most advanced eusociality documented is in the tribe Allodapini.
Most members of this subfamily make nests in plant stems or wood.
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