Bee Idioms - BBC Learning English "The Teacher"

Busy as a bee.

The bee's knees.

To have a bee in your bonnet.

Hello, I’m a very interesting and intelligent man.
And today these bees and I are getting together to teach you a thing or two about English idioms.
I bet you’ve never been taught by a bee before!
Look at them all working away: busy, buzzy bees.
Busy, buzzy, buzzy, buzzy, buzzy ……buzz buzz.
In English, if someone is very busy or is moving around quickly doing lots of things we can say they’re busy as a bee.
Busy as a bee.
Buzz.
Now, what else do we know about bees?
Hmm, my favourite – runny honey. I love honey. In fact, I think it’s the bee’s knees! Now I know what you’re thinking “What are you talking about you silly man? The bee’s knees?”
In English, if we think that something is excellent, or of the very highest quality, we can say it’s the bee’s knees.
The bee's knees.
Like my lessons – they're the bee's knees.
Now, they may make yummy, runny honey, but never forget that bees have a nasty side. They sting.
So you wouldn’t want one to fly up here into your hat – or bonnet as we call this old fashioned ladies’ hat.
So, how would you feel if you had a bee in your bonnet? Extremely worried.
In English, if someone is very worried or concerned about something and they talk about it all the time, we can say they’ve got a bee in their bonnet.
To have a bee in your bonnet.