Hi all 
I have been trying with no luck to figure out the origin of the term "bees" for a gathering of people:

America is essentially the land of bees—gatherings of friends and neighbours for some special object. In the old days, when population was sparse, a new settler would, unaided, be totally unable to perform many necessary operations, such as clearing the land, erecting a log cabin, etc., within a reasonable time; his neighbours would, therefore, come to his assistance, and the many pairs of hands at a "chopping bee," or a "raising-bee,” or a “building-bee” would accomplish, in a few hours, what would have taken one man many weeks to per form. The custom was general; indeed, the rendering of such assistance was regarded as almost a public duty. The term is now applied to almost any gathering of people for a useful, entertaining, or other purpose ...  -- Americanisms - old & new. Compiled and edited by John S. Farmer. London, 1889.

It's sometimes said that the idea is people are working together like a hive of bees, but that doesn't make sense really. One might then call the group a hive -- but a bee? It must come from something else..

PLB

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