--- title: Behind the Bee’s Knees: The Origins of Nine Bee-Inspired Sayings description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. canonical: https://time.com/archive/7218993/behind-the-bees-knees-the-origins-of-nine-bee-idioms/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-08-08T11:30:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T14:43:13.907Z article:section: Science og:title: Behind the Bee’s Knees: The Origins of Nine Bee-Inspired Sayings og:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. og:url: https://time.com/archive/7218993/behind-the-bees-knees-the-origins-of-nine-bee-idioms/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd10c0f49b33ca4e/6998b5b407a30ddd7f77b1d0/mg_1507.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bee hive og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Behind the Bee’s Knees: The Origins of Nine Bee-Inspired Sayings twitter:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd10c0f49b33ca4e/6998b5b407a30ddd7f77b1d0/mg_1507.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- ![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd10c0f49b33ca4e/6998b5b407a30ddd7f77b1d0/mg_1507.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9) * [Science](/section/science/) # Behind the Bee's Knees: The Origins of Nine Bee-Inspired Sayings by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) Aug 8, 2013 11:30 AM UTC ![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd10c0f49b33ca4e/6998b5b407a30ddd7f77b1d0/mg_1507.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2) Hannah Whitaker for TIME by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) Aug 8, 2013 11:30 AM UTC ## To Put the Bee On ![To put the bee on someone can mean to ask them for money, often with a piteous, woe-is-me tale. Webb Garrison, a late historian and dean at Emory University, traced the term to America’s frontier days. Poor churchgoers would organize “bees”—meetings where everyone pitched in—to pay their preachers; donation collectors would have to “put the bee on” those who were less willing contribute.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt986783278da59af9/6998b5b483ec37089dc78b83/put-the-bee-on.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
To put the bee on someone can mean to ask them for money, often with a piteous, woe-is-me tale. Webb Garrison, a late historian and dean at Emory University, traced the term to America’s frontier days. Poor churchgoers would organize “bees”—meetings where everyone pitched in—to pay their preachers; donation collectors would have to “put the bee on” those who were less willing contribute. jb1271 ## Busy Bee ![Bees are famous for being industrious, and the comparison of busy people to bees goes back to at least the 16th century. In 1715, English poet Isaac Watts used the phrase in a moral poem advising against idleness and mischief—“How doth the little busy bee / Improve each shining hour, / And gather honey all the day / From every opening flower\!”—which Lewis Carroll later parodied as “How doth the little crocodile” in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ff09bb5cb87733d/6998b5b5a97fc0e3a2a726e1/busy-bee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
Bees are famous for being industrious, and the comparison of busy people to bees goes back to at least the 16th century. In 1715, English poet Isaac Watts used the phrase in a moral poem advising against idleness and mischief—“How doth the little busy bee / Improve each shining hour, / And gather honey all the day / From every opening flower!”—which Lewis Carroll later parodied as “How doth the little crocodile” in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. jb1271 ## The Birds and the Bees ![There is no better known euphemism for sex education than “the birds and the bees,” which dates back to at least the late 1800s. In a 1928 ditty, Cole Porter helped immortalize the connection between those animals and making sweet music: “Birds do it, bees do it,” he sang. “Even educated fleas do it. Let’s do it, let’s fall in love.” In their 1962 dictionary of  phrase origins, William and Mary Morris link this idiom to lines by Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge: "All nature seems at work ... The bees are stirring--birds are on wing ... I the while, the sole unbusy thing, nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing."](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b8cf49ee6fe3bdc/6998b5b5e1ba004c4598ba90/birds-and-bees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
There is no better known euphemism for sex education than “the birds and the bees,” which dates back to at least the late 1800s. In a 1928 ditty, Cole Porter helped immortalize the connection between those animals and making sweet music: “Birds do it, bees do it,” he sang. “Even educated fleas do it. Let’s do it, let’s fall in love.” In their 1962 dictionary of phrase origins, William and Mary Morris link this idiom to lines by Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge: "All nature seems at work ... The bees are stirring--birds are on wing ... I the while, the sole unbusy thing, nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing." jb1271 ## Spelling Bee ![A “bee” has referred to a meeting of people who work together to benefit one of their group—joining forces in a “husking bee,” for instance—since at least the 1700s. The meaning has extended to include various purposeful gatherings, like the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where brilliant children gather each year and humble American adults with their linguistic prowess. Lexicographers have debated whether the original sense is related to the social image of bees buzzing around their hive.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ab31c3ca8785fe3/6998b5b5c8dcb468f9b4e3c4/spelling-bee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
A “bee” has referred to a meeting of people who work together to benefit one of their group—joining forces in a “husking bee,” for instance—since at least the 1700s. The meaning has extended to include various purposeful gatherings, like the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where brilliant children gather each year and humble American adults with their linguistic prowess. Lexicographers have debated whether the original sense is related to the social image of bees buzzing around their hive. jb1271 ## Bee In One's Bonnet ![A Scottish translation of Virgil’s Aeneid from 1553 contains a precursor to this phrase: “hede full of beis.” \(So you know this saying is truly epic.\) The idiom, meaning to be preoccupied with an eccentric idea, conjures the agitated, myopic state one would be in if she found a bee was buzzing around anywhere in her noggin region. In ye olde days, having “maggots in your braines” was used similarly.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt634ca219ef4c09a0/6998b5b6e2d64b4039c5d73c/bee-in-your-bonnet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
A Scottish translation of Virgil’s Aeneid from 1553 contains a precursor to this phrase: “hede full of beis.” (So you know this saying is truly epic.) The idiom, meaning to be preoccupied with an eccentric idea, conjures the agitated, myopic state one would be in if she found a bee was buzzing around anywhere in her noggin region. In ye olde days, having “maggots in your braines” was used similarly. jb1271 ## The Bee's Knees ![In the late 18th century, this slang term for something stylish and excellent actually referred to something small, weak or insignificant, such as the joint in a bee’s little leg. Flappers likely repurposed the phrase in the 1920s, when animalistic phrases for groovy stuff--like the “cat’s whiskers,” the “snake’s hips” and the “flea’s eyebrows”—were all the rage. ](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt084955ea449e86ac/6998b5b6c8dcb45657b4e3c9/bees-knees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
In the late 18th century, this slang term for something stylish and excellent actually referred to something small, weak or insignificant, such as the joint in a bee’s little leg. Flappers likely repurposed the phrase in the 1920s, when animalistic phrases for groovy stuff--like the “cat’s whiskers,” the “snake’s hips” and the “flea’s eyebrows”—were all the rage. jb1271 ## None of Your Beeswax ![Like the “bee’s knees,” this euphemism for “it’s none of your business” was go-to slang in the roaring ’20s. English author and etymology expert Mark Forsyth points out that in the 19th century, beeswax was shorthand for “tedious bore” and suggests the adaptation may be akin to “stop prying, you dullard.” On the other hand, he says, it may just be a "humorous alteration," given how similar business and beeswax sound. See also: Mind your own beeswax.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27cbaa77294fd181/6998b5b607a30d4bdf77b1d8/none-of-your-beeswax.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
Like the “bee’s knees,” this euphemism for “it’s none of your business” was go-to slang in the roaring ’20s. English author and etymology expert Mark Forsyth points out that in the 19th century, beeswax was shorthand for “tedious bore” and suggests the adaptation may be akin to “stop prying, you dullard.” On the other hand, he says, it may just be a "humorous alteration," given how similar business and beeswax sound. See also: Mind your own beeswax. jb1271 ## Bee-stung Lips ![Mae Murray, a star of the silent movie era, was known as “the girl with the bee-stung lips,” after a publicist noticed her natural pout. Many other starlets with full, sensuous puckers--looking as if they had been stung by bees--have since shared the label. Mixologists meanwhile turned the phrase, which has been around since at least the 1850s, into a drink made with honey, light rum and heavy cream.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc3c14d956a54959/6998b5b7c8dcb4d849b4e3cd/bee-stung-lips.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
Mae Murray, a star of the silent movie era, was known as “the girl with the bee-stung lips,” after a publicist noticed her natural pout. Many other starlets with full, sensuous puckers--looking as if they had been stung by bees--have since shared the label. Mixologists meanwhile turned the phrase, which has been around since at least the 1850s, into a drink made with honey, light rum and heavy cream. jb1271 ## Make a Bee-line ![A bee-line is a straight one between two points; making a bee-line typically means to zoom straight toward a place that one needs or desires—like a bathroom or cocktail bar—ignoring everything else along the way. The Oxford English Dictionary links this phrase to the focused line a bee is “supposed instinctively to take in returning to its hive.”](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0320b7d119aaa51b/6998b5b7f1b0825c5a6ef6f5/make-a-beeline.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
A bee-line is a straight one between two points; making a bee-line typically means to zoom straight toward a place that one needs or desires—like a bathroom or cocktail bar—ignoring everything else along the way. The Oxford English Dictionary links this phrase to the focused line a bee is “supposed instinctively to take in returning to its hive.” jb1271 ## Buzzworthy Backstories ![If you have a bee in your bonnet about having bee-stung lips, you might make a bee-line to the plastic surgeon. And if someone asked whether you had work done, you might well them that it's none of their darned beeswax. The insects that are so crucial to American agriculture--as Bryan Walsh explains in this week's TIME Magazine--are also stalwarts in the English language. The buzzy, cute, loud, social, stinging animals have inspired a colony of metaphors and idioms over the past millennia. Some of those phrases make more obvious sense than others \(we're looking at you, bee's knees\), so TIME burrowed into the stories behind nine bee-inspired sayings.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52c919e9a81edad9/6998b5b79fbc7c9857d98300/mg_1507.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
If you have a bee in your bonnet about having bee-stung lips, you might make a bee-line to the plastic surgeon. And if someone asked whether you had work done, you might well them that it's none of their darned beeswax.



The insects that are so crucial to American agriculture--as Bryan Walsh explains in this week's TIME Magazine--are also stalwarts in the English language. The buzzy, cute, loud, social, stinging animals have inspired a colony of metaphors and idioms over the past millennia. Some of those phrases make more obvious sense than others (we're looking at you, bee's knees), so TIME burrowed into the stories behind nine bee-inspired sayings. jb1271 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218993/behind-the-bees-knees-the-origins-of-nine-bee-idioms/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218993/behind-the-bees-knees-the-origins-of-nine-bee-idioms/"},"headline":"Behind the Bee's Knees: The Origins of Nine Bee-Inspired Sayings","datePublished":"2013-08-08T11:30:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T14:43:13.907Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/archive/7218993/behind-the-bees-knees-the-origins-of-nine-bee-idioms/","keywords":["Extinction"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd10c0f49b33ca4e/6998b5b407a30ddd7f77b1d0/mg_1507.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd10c0f49b33ca4e/6998b5b407a30ddd7f77b1d0/mg_1507.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bee hive","caption":"","creditText":"Hannah Whitaker for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218993/behind-the-bees-knees-the-origins-of-nine-bee-idioms/","name":"Behind the Bee's Knees: The Origins of Nine Bee-Inspired Sayings"}}]}] ```