"bee" from buzzing rather than socializing?

[W Brewer]

Spinning bee (ladies' (spinsters'?) competition, busy little bees, noisily
buzzing with activity as in a beehive) ~ quilting bee (communal activity of
women, quasi-competitive, abuzz with gossip) ~ spelling bee (school
marm-(~nun)-organized punishment, with students droning on and on,
endlessly regurgitating alphabetic segments, until the insufferable little
girl wins and is crowned Queen Bee).

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