Insects let free, surrounded by bees (7)
I believe the answer is:
beetles
'insects' is the definition.
(beetle is a kind of insect)
'let free surrounded by bees' is the wordplay.
'free' indicates an anagram.
'surrounded by' indicates putting letters inside.
'let' anagrammed gives 'tle'.
'tle' put inside 'bees' is 'BEETLES'.
(Other definitions for beetles that I've seen before include "Four-winged insects" , "Lets bee turn to insects" , "Bet eels could turn into insects" .)