Basic Trope: A race of beings that lives in a eusocial society, like bees do.
- Straight: The Beeins live in a community divided into "workers" (young, sterile females who take care of whatever tasks need to be done), "drones" (males who live in a "harem" and whose only purpose is to mate with the queen), and a queen, who oversees the running of the community as well as breeding.
- Exaggerated:
- The Beeins actually have bee-like traits, such as wings and stingers.
- The Beeins are actually a Hive Mind.
- Downplayed: The Beeins have cities like this dotting a landscape of more egalitarian wilderness.
- Justified: That's how the Beeins evolved.
- Inverted:
- The Beeins live in a very egalitarian society. There may not even be a formal ruler of any kind!
- The Beeins are ruled by a King, not a Queen.
- The Beeins vote for a president
- Subverted:
- The queen helps out with some tasks, and the drones do indeed have more responsibility than just mating.
- There is more than one female capable of reproduction.
- Double Subverted:
- But the primary responsiblity of the queen and/or drones is breeding, which takes up most of their time and energy.
- The "virgin queens" or "princesses" fight one another until there's only one left, who must either a) oust or kill the current queen, b) leave and start her own community, or c) simply wait until the current queen dies.
- Parodied: The Beeins are straightforward Bee People with castes and a breeder queen... except they all act like hyper-patriotic American stereotypes, always yelling about freedom and the greatness of their Constitution.
- Zig Zagged: Some aspects of eusociality are still present in Beein culture, such as the queen's right to breed with all drones, but some parts of their culture are more modern and free-minded, such as Beeins choosing their career.
- Averted: The Beeins have no bee-like qualities at all.
- Enforced: "What could be more of a Crapsack World (or, Depending on the Writer, a Utopia) than one where your entire life is mapped out for you, like a bee's life is?"
- Lampshaded: "I walk into the jaw-dropping alien city, and suddenly I'm in an oversized Maya the Bee movie! What the hell!"
- Invoked: The Beeins have a very rigid social structure.
- Exploited: Bob the Adventurer recruits the Beein queen into her band of True Companions, knowing that her people will follow her and thus he'll have a millions-strong army ready to fight for his case.
- Defied: The Beeins decide to let everyone have a say, a chance to move up (or down) in society, and a chance to choose any career path, as well as anyone getting to breed.
- Discussed: "Just because we look like giant insects does not mean we live like them. You humans are all racists."
- Implied:
- The insectoid, almost identical Beeins frequently mention their queen, but we never see if she's an eusocial breeder queen or just plain royalty.
- All the Beein workers look exactly alike and have no children or mates.
- Conversed: ???
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