beebee /biː/ ●●○ noun [countable] 
a black and yellow flying insect that makes honey and can sting you: 
a swarm of bees a bee sting → bumblebee2have a bee in your bonnet (about something) informal to think something is so important, so necessary etc that you keep mentioning it or thinking about it: Dad’s got a bee in his bonnet about saving electricity.3sewing/quilting etc bee American English informal an occasion when people, usually women, meet in order to do a particular type of work4a busy bee spoken someone who enjoys being busy or active5be the bee’s knees spoken old-fashioned to be very good: She thought the party was just the bee’s knees. → spelling bee, → the birds and the bees at bird(3)
WORD ORIGINbee
Origin:
Old English beoEXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- A review of the honey bees is flanked by a fascinating description of the less well known bumble bees.
- And they are at far higher risk of death from bees, wasps and snakes than from sharks.
- Blame it on the lightless conspiracy of bee life, a secret guarded by ten thousand fanatically loyal, armed soldiers.
- In 1994, according to our census, they made up 15 percent of the bee population.
- In the spring these plants would unfurl tiny pink bell-like flowers that attract bees.
- It was like bees round a honey pot.
- She trailed around the room picking up beer bottles, looking oddly like a bee with broken wings.
- The dance of the bees has a repertoire of wiggles and tilts and speeds.
WORD SETS
abdomen, nounant, nounantenna, nounanthill, nounaphid, nounbedbug, nounbee, nounbeetle, nounblack widow, nounbloodsucker, nounblow-fly, nounbluebottle, nounboll weevil, nounbookworm, nounbug, nounbumblebee, nounbutterfly, nouncaterpillar, nouncell, nouncentipede, nounchrysalis, nouncicada, nouncobweb, nouncockchafer, nouncockroach, nouncocoon, nouncomb, nouncrane fly, nouncreepy-crawly, nouncricket, noundaddy longlegs, noundragonfly, noundrone, nounearwig, nounentomology, nounfeeler, nounfirefly, nounflea, nounfly, verbfly, nounfruit fly, noungadfly, nounglow-worm, noungnat, noungossamer, noungrasshopper, noungreenfly, noungrub, nounhoneybee, nounhoneycomb, nounhornet, nounhorsefly, nounhousefly, nouninsect, nouninsectivore, nounkatydid, nounladybird, nounlarva, nounlice, nounlightning bug, nounlocust, nounlouse, nounmaggot, nounmantis, nounmayfly, nounmidge, nounmillipede, nounmite, nounmosquito, nounmoth, nounnectar, nounnest, nounnit, nounnymph, nounpest, nounpod, nounpraying mantis, nounproboscis, nounpupa, nounqueen, nounroach, nounsand fly, nounscarab, nounsilkworm, nounsilverfish, nounspider, nounspin, verbstick insect, nounsting, verbsting, nounstinger, nounsucker, nounswarm, nounswarm, verbtarantula, nountermite, nounthorax, nountick, nountortoiseshell, nountrilobite, nountsetse fly, nountzetze fly, nounvein, nounverminous, adjectivewasp, nounwater bug, nounweb, nounweevil, nounwing, nounwinged, adjectivewoodlouse, nounwoodworm, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a bee stingCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
a bee sting· Without question, the Africanized bees are here to stay.· Let Africanized bees do their bit to breed better beekeepers in this country, in other words.· Where you once only had to worry about rattlesnakes and water, you now find Africanized bees, too.
· But he still got his picture of the beekeeper and his busy little bees.· We know how Disney chose to describe his role at the studio: Walt, the busy bee.· Ideas buzz around like busy bees, but the sting that's left behind is always in the heart.
· It was the kind of scenario that, eventually, inevitably, would draw the national press like bees to honey.· Her trip to the national bee was sponsored by the Albany Times Union.· Hulka, making his fourth appearance at the national bee, repeated the word seven times before attempting to spell it.
NOUN· This is far too sparing for a bumble bee.· An hour later he was in Chesney, having seen no animate thing but two bumble bees and a rook.· Once a smaller one buzzed by like a transparent bumble bee, below him but still above the tallest buildings.· A review of the honey bees is flanked by a fascinating description of the less well known bumble bees.· Concern is expressed that agricultural methods and the widespread introductions of honey bees are reducing the populations of bumble bees.· The chemicals upset the balance of the environment and killed not only the whitefly but also other wildlife including the bumble bee.· The absence of the bumble bee meant that pollination had to be carried out artificially, using an electronic vibrating rod.· This was labour intensive, more expensive and less effective than employing the bumble bee.
· My first flight was in cessna called a honey bee, it was with a man called Andy who my dad knows.· Most of the journeys made by honey bees or Cataglyphis are so brief that its movement is not of great significance.· A review of the honey bees is flanked by a fascinating description of the less well known bumble bees.· Concern is expressed that agricultural methods and the widespread introductions of honey bees are reducing the populations of bumble bees.· There are among honey bees three reported examples that appear at first glance to qualify as cognitive trial-and-error.· These flowers possess spring-loaded anthers that give honey bees a rough blow when they enter.· In the face of potential starvation, honey bees finally begin foraging on alfalfa, but they learn to avoid being clubbed.· The hexagonal cells, however, are built with a precision and uniformity that fully matches those of the honey bee.
· Thus the myth of the killer bee was born.
· For a human being a wasp or bee sting is always painful, but not necessarily serious.· Fire officials said bee stings and poison oak were the most serious problems.· That is only a fraction of the numbers killed by bee stings.· For most people, the reaction to a bee sting is swelling and pain.
· The organism of a hive yields integration for its community of worker bees, drones, pollen and brood.· But the majority of the maquila force are worker bees.· A worker bee also uses the sun in a similar way.· You need walls... a place to go and be a worker bee.· The hundreds of worker bees who were also driven out got the minimum.
VERB· So one could just retire to the country and keep bees, eh?· He makes no blot who has no ink, Nor gathers honey who keeps no bees.· She kept bees in Jane's orchard and would appear regularly swathed in black net with her eleven-year-old son in tow.· The heather would have kept the bees going throughout the winter.
· He even remembered the gruesome details of the spelling bee he lost in front of the entire seventh grade.· Precontest administrative duties were shared by several county superintendents in pre tion for the state spelling bee.· Spider then is able to confront his fear and on the big night, he takes second place in the spelling bee.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► have a bee in your bonnet (about something)► a busy beePHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► queen bee
1- I don't mean sermons, or those awful sewing bees we used to have.
- I think that show is just the bee's knees.
- For a lesson in the birds and the bees, turn to page 12.
- She was to be minister of love, chief of the Department of the Birds and the Bees.
a black and yellow flying insect that makes honey and can sting you: a swarm of bees a bee sting → bumblebee2have a bee in your bonnet (about something) informal to think something is so important, so necessary etc that you keep mentioning it or thinking about it: Dad’s got a bee in his bonnet about saving electricity.3sewing/quilting etc bee American English informal an occasion when people, usually women, meet in order to do a particular type of work4a busy bee spoken someone who enjoys being busy or active5be the bee’s knees spoken old-fashioned to be very good: She thought the party was just the bee’s knees. → spelling bee, → the birds and the bees at bird(3)