Bee on flower, computer artwork. The bee is using its proboscis to drink nectar from the flower. As it does so, it makes contact with pollen grains on the flower and these stick to the bee's body. As the bee visits different flowers, the pollen will be transferred between them. This process, called cross-pollination, is how many flowering plants reproduce. The bee at upper right is carrying part of the flower back to its hive. Bees are insects in the superfamily Apoidea, and are closely related to ants and wasps.