Definition

Noun: 1. The fertile, egg-laying female in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees): The single reproductive female in a hive, around whom the colony's activities are organized. She is larger than the worker bees and is the mother of most, if not all, bees in the colony.

Usage

The term "queen bee" is used specifically to refer to this central, reproductive role within a bee colony. It is a compound noun. * The beekeeper carefully marked the queen bee with a dot of paint to make her easier to identify. * The health of the entire hive depends on the queen bee.

Advanced Usage

• Metaphorical Use: In human contexts, "queen bee" is often used metaphorically to describe a woman who is the dominant or most important person in a particular group or social setting.
  • In the office, she was the undisputed queen bee, and all major decisions went through her.

Variants and Related Words

• Queen (noun): In entomology, this can be used more broadly for the reproductive female in other social insects (e.g., , ).
• Worker Bee (noun): A sterile female bee that performs the labor of the hive.
• Drone (noun): A male bee whose primary function is to mate with a virgin queen.

Synonyms

• Sovereign (when used metaphorically, implying female rulership)
• Matriarch (when used metaphorically, implying a female head of a family or group)

Antonyms

• Worker bee
• Drone

Related Idioms and Phrases

• The queen bee syndrome: A metaphorical phrase used to describe a situation where a woman in a position of authority treats her female subordinates more critically than her male subordinates.
  • Some studies have examined whether the queen bee syndrome is a reality in corporate environments.

Noun

1. fertile egg-laying female bee