Gangs of Bees
Earlier
this month I received an unexpected gift. A researcher, author & gentleman
named David W. K. Godrich decided I might enjoy the fruit of many years of his
and his father’s labor. He sent me A
Gaggle of Geese, a two-generation labor of love begun in 1940 and most
recently updated in 2011. This week’s post was inspired by Mr. Godrich’s
generosity.
His
book consists of 238 pages of lists of collective nouns. Early on in the book,
the entries for groups of bees caught my attention &
inspired a little research of my own. Though each term in this list may have a
slightly different meaning, and some are obviously alternate spellings of the
same word, all are established descriptors for groups of bees.
an
apian
of bees
an
apiary
of bees
a
bike
of bees
a
butt
of bees
a
cast
of bees
a
chit
of bees
a
colony
of bees
a
community
of
bees
a
cote
of bees
an
erst
of bees
a
flight
of
bees
a
grist
of
bees
a
hive
of bees
a
multitude
of bees
a
nest
of bees
a
neast
of
bees
a
play
of bees
a
smart
of
bees
a
spew
of bees
a
spindle
of
bees
a
swarm
of bees
a
swarme of bees
Good
followers, how many of these are familiar to you? Which are unfamiliar? What new collective
noun would you suggest for bees? For groups of readers? For groups of writers?
My thanks go out to this week’s
sources: the OED, Wordnik, Etymonline. Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms (Gale Group 2008) & A
Gaggle of Geese, by David W. K. Godrich, fifth edition, 2011.
Amazing. I've never heard of a bike, butt, chit, erst, grist, neast, play, smart, spew, spindle...in fact most of these collective nouns...of bees.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne,
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I have a particular fondness for a spew of bees -- it's so very visual.
Apiary, colony, flight, hive, swarm...figured it was shorter to name the ones I did know!
ReplyDeleteA library of readers? A chapter of writers? A marvel of writers! Hmm, such interesting ideas...a fascination of readers. There ya go.
Such a special gift to receive! I have never heard of most of these. My favorites: a play of bees and a spew of bees. Wonderfully descriptive. Thanks for the fun morning image of playfully spewing bees!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of most of these... a butt of bees grabbed me the most, the visual of sitting on a swarm of bees made me shudder! LOL It doesn't surprise me that there are so many ways to describe a grouping of bees, as they inspire such dread in so many of us, especially those allergic to the little critters. Reading the list I had a vision of a kaleidoscope of melissophobes St. Vitus dancing amidst a spew of bees...
ReplyDeleteHow about a story of writers... An anecdote of authors... A chronicle of narrators... a browse of readers...
Christine, Rachel6 & Susan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by & pondering bee-groups with me, & special thanks Rachel6 & Susan for the suggestions for author & reader collective nouns.