Bee and Flower is a single-screen arcade game. You control a honeybee who, over the course of a day, has to visit flowers at the bottom of the screen and return the nectar to the hive at the top of the screen.

The air between your hive and the ground is patrolled by hostile insects of various sorts: dragonflies, butterflies, ladybirds and wasps. Each of these have distinct movement patterns. For instance, the dragonflies patrol the top part of the screen and move horizontally with frequent pauses. Butterflies on the other hand visits and feeds on the flowers near the ground. Once a butterfly has drained a flower of its sustenance, the flower disappears. You can divert the attention of a butterfly by dropping a sugar cube, which it will eat in preference to visiting flowers.

All of the insects can be dispersed using your sting, of which you have an infinite number, and can launch at your opponents in a parabolic arc. Later in the day, a human bug collector that prizes you as a specimen will appear, and is impervious to your sting. Killing an insect gives you points, as does returning to the hive with nectar.

Each level takes place over the course of a day, and ends when you have collected a certain amount of nectar (indicated by the number of grubs lying on the ground). On completing a level, you get a bonus for the amount of time left in the day. And then the next level starts, with more enemies and requiring a larger number of trips to complete.