During a summer in a village house linked to beekeeping, she explores her femininity alongside the women of her family, who at the same time reflect on their own.

[12][13] To help ensure an accurate portrayal, the director worked with Naizen [eu; es], a regional association for the families of transgender minors, and they also provided guidance for Otero.

[14] In the film, the family crosses borders, including the one that separates Bayonne, France from Laudio/Llodio in Spanish Basque Country.

[21] In April it competed in the 47th Hong Kong International Film Festival, where it won the best actress for its female ensemble cast.

The website's consensus reads: "Led by young Sofía Otero's outstanding performance, 20,000 Species of Bees explores an array of weighty themes with gentle humanity.

"[34] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[35] Alfonso Rivera, reviewing the film for Cineuropa, praised Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren writing, "the filmmaker addresses plurality, exploration and transformation with a stratospheric sensitivity."

"[36] Nicholas Bell in IonCinema.com gave the film a score of three out of five, writing, "Touching and without being overly sentimental, Solaguren uses the titular diversity of bees to suggest our authentic roles all play an important part if we are to move beyond surviving to actually thriving".

Mintzer concluded: "20,000 Species of Bees returns to Ane's [Arnaiz's] loving — most memorably at the very close of the film when she not only firmly stands by her youngest child's bold decision, but appears to be empowered by it.