Very busy. Of all creatures, the bee is the most synonymous with busyness.
As busy as a bee
What's the meaning of the phrase 'As busy as a bee'?
What's the origin of the phrase 'As busy as a bee'?
The first person to record the use of the simile ‘as busy as a bee’ was Geoffrey Chaucer, in The Canterbury Tales, (tTe Squire’s Tale), 1386-1400:
Ey! Goddes mercy!” sayd our Hoste tho,
Now such a wyf I pray God keep me fro.
Lo, suche sleightes and subtilitees
In wommen be; for ay as busy as bees
Be thay us seely men for to desceyve,
And from a soth ever a lie thay weyve.
And by this Marchaundes tale it proveth wel.
“See other ‘as x as y similes‘.
The history of “As busy as a bee” in printed materials
Trend of as busy as a bee in printed material over time
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