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Make A Bee-line for
Make A Bee-line for
Make A Bee-line for : Phrases
Meaning:
Go directly towards.
Origin:
The phrase derives from the behaviour of bees. When a forager bee finds a source of nectar it returns to the hive and communicates its location to the other bees, using a display called the waggle dance. The other bees are then able to fly directly to the source of the nectar, i.e. 'make a beeline' for it.
The phrase is American and all the early citations of it come from the USA. The earliest that I can find is from The Davenport Daily Leader, January 1808:
"Gustav Stengel Sr., of Rock Island, was thrown from his sleigh on Third avenue in that city yesterday afternoon, the horse becoming frightened and turning abruptly, ripping the cutter. The horse made a bee line for home."