Robert Christy, comp. Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages. 1887.

Bee

A drone is one who does not labor.Benjamin Disraeli.

A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay,
But a swarm in July is not worth a fly.

Bees do not become hornets.

Better two drones be preserved than one good bee perish.

Drones suck not eagles’ blood but rob bee-hives.Shakespeare.

From the same flower the bee extracts honey and the wasp gall.Italian.

Good bees never turn drones.

He has a bee in his bonnet lug.

I want no drones in my bee-hive.German.

Old bees yield no honey.

One bee is better than a handful of flies.German, Spanish.

The bee from his industry in the summer eats honey all the winter.

Whatever the bee sucks turns to honey and whatever the wasp sucks turns to venom.Portuguese.

When bees are old they yield no honey.

When the bee sucks it makes honey, when the spider, poison.Spanish.

Where bees are there is honey.