Space Bees are a species that resemble Earth bees and produce space honey. They live in space and are ruled by а Queen Bee.
At least two Planet Express crews have been sent by Professor Farnsworth to collect space honey from the Space Bees' honeycomb. The Space Bee's sting normally results in instant death if the person stung is not allergic. If the person stung is allergic, the results are much more gruesome. The only two known survivors of a Space Bee sting are Fry and Leela. Fry's survival was due to the stinger going right through him and Leela getting all of the poison.
In the holiday special, Hermes would have united the bees causing them to act like Africanized bees and turned against the crew. But since this episode never occurred in the timeline the space bees have no updated status. It is possible that Professor Farnsworth never wanted to send a member back to the hive.