Worker Bees Are All Female
A worker does work. In a beehive the workers are all female, and the term is one of the oldest metaphors for organised labour.
A worker is a person who works, or a sterile member of a social insect colony. The beehive comparison has been used for human society for centuries, usually to praise industry — and usually without noticing that every worker bee is female. The drones, which are male, do no work at all. The word *work* itself is one of the oldest in English.
- Someone who works. *A skilled worker.*
- A sterile social insect. *Worker bees.*
- Care worker — someone in the care sector. *A social care worker.*
- Co-worker — a colleague. *A friendly co-worker.*
- Workaholic — someone who works compulsively. *A confessed workaholic.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | work | Work late. |
| Noun | work | Hard work. |
| Agent | worker | A factory worker. |
| Plural | workers | Two hundred workers. |
| Compound | workforce | The whole workforce. |
- Workers walked out at noon.Labour.
- Worker bees live only a few weeks in summer.Entomology.
- He is a workaholic by his own admission.A 1970s coinage.
Who does what in a hive
- Queen — the only reproducing female, and can live for years
- Workers — all female, sterile, and do every other job
- Drones — male, and their only role is mating
- Worker lifespan — a few weeks in the busy season
- Jobs change with age — cleaning, then nursing, then guarding, then foraging
Old English *weorc*, work, plus the agent ending -er. The insect sense is recorded from the 1700s as beekeeping became systematic.
Are worker bees male or female?
All female. The males are drones, and they do not gather food or maintain the hive.
When was workaholic coined?
In 1968, by the American writer Wayne Oates, on the model of alcoholic.