Why do we say "make a beeline"?

The short answer

The phrase "make a beeline" comes from how honeybees fly directly back to their hive after gathering nectar or return straight to a bountiful food source.

The long answer

In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, you'll find this entry for the word "beeline":

Beeline
Pronunciation: / ˈbiːˌlaɪn / (bee·​line)
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a straight direct course
Example of "beeline" in a sentence: "Kids let out the pit bull dog, which made a beeline for the man."

As you might have already guessed, the word comes from the behavior of honeybees. I don't know about you, but the bees I've seen in my lifetime seem to saunter around from flower to flower. Bee flying seems anything but direct.

However, bees do fly in a direct course in at least two circumstances. Let's dig into the two types of bee flight paths that inspired the phrase "make a beeline":

Beeline #1: A bee returning to the hive after collecting nectar or pollen.

After a bee fills up on nectar or pollen, there's no sense in taking the scenic route home. So a bee will make a beeline and return directly to its hive.

Once the bee has collected enough nectar and pollen, it wastes no time going back to the hive.

In fact, beelining, also called bee hunting, was old method of tracking wild bees to find their hives and collect honey. Beeliners would capture worker bees and release them from various points in order to find the hive.

Beeline #2: A bee going to a new food source after receiving directions from another bee.

Once a bee has identified a fantastic food source, they will make a beeline to return directly to it — and show other bees the way.

Now that the bee knows where the nectar and pollen is, it will go directly there to fill up.

There's no point in spending energy flying around to find a new food source when you've hit the jackpot. So a bee will fly directly back to it to gather up nectar and pollen for the hive.

What's better than one bee knowing where the goods are? Lots of bees!

To share this vital info, a bee will perform what's known as the waggle dance. The waggle dance is one of the most complex examples of non-primate communication known to science.

Here's how it works: Back at the hive, the bee with the intel will dance in a short wiggling run which communicates the direction and length of time it takes to fly to the spot. For example, if a bee is angled 90° to the right of the top of the hive, they're telling other bees in that direction to find the food source. The length of the dance indicates how far away it is.

Source: ​Tenor​

By performing a waggle dance, the bee who recently made a beeline from the food source can now direct other bees to join it in making a beeline to the food source.

---

So while bees seem to mosey around, they're actually quite efficient in getting from point A to point B(ee), making their behavior a fitting origin for the phrase "make a beeline."

Curious about how the world works?

Today You Should Know is a free, weekly email newsletter designed to help you learn something new every Friday.

Subscribe today 👇

---

Check out some other curious questions:

---

Sources

Bienentanz Gesellschaft für Kommunikation mbH. (2006, June 2). Bee Dance (Waggle Dance). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg&ab_channel=BienentanzGmbH

Evans, D. (2022, September 9). Making a beeline. The Apiarist. https://theapiarist.org/making-a-beeline/

Kellerman, S., & O’Conner, P. (2018, April 24). Why is a beeline straight?. Grammarphobia. https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2018/04/beeline.html

“Make a beeline for.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make%20a%20beeline%20for. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.

Martin, G. (2023, December 20). Make a bee-line for. Phrase Finder. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/make-a-beeline-for.html

Oxford University Press. (2021). beeline. Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/dictionary/beeline_n?tl=true

Riley, J. R., Greggers, U., Smith, A. D., Reynolds, D. R., & Menzel, R. (2005). The flight paths of honeybees recruited by the waggle dance. Nature, 435(7039), 205–207. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03526

Rossen, J. (2024, August 15). Why Do We Say “Make a Beeline”? Mental Floss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/why-we-say-make-a-beeline