Bees have an incredible flap rate. My suggestion would be to set up the camera on a tripod outside of a beehive. Work on getting the focus from the flight path to the lens of the camera on the tripod, set the lens to manual focus so it doesn't move and the VR off. Then crank (ballpark guess but you'll get the idea) that shutter speed up to 1/2000 and then adjust the aperture and ISO to accommodate that kind of shutter speed. Not having shot the bees this is where I would begin.
For shutter release I would use a remote. Maybe stand up two poles just outside of you picture area and then sit there using your eye to watch the little buggers fly in the picture area and snap the shutter. You will really have to anticipate these buggers coming in to catch them in time in your picture area.
This sounds so cool. Wish I had a beehive to sit in front of.