Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld), finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees’ honey for centuries, and ultimately realises that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey.

As a result, the bee and human communities get involved in ways they never had before, each one of them pointing a finger at the other. Barry gets caught up in the middle and finds himself with some very unusual problems to solve.