Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US, also bee, put the B on, ...the bumblebee on) to extort, to blackmail, to pressurize, esp. for a loan.

1905		F. Hutchison Philosophy of Johnny the Gent 25: That guy wouldn't no more nick the hickory wit’ the price of a round of brew, unless he was absolutely certain he could place the bumblebee on the bloke he was buyin’ the drink for.
1908		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 129: I want to put the bee on you for two bucks.
1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 84: He tried to put the B. on me for the third touch this week.
1919		H.C. Witwer Smile A Minute 75: Don’t go and croak on me while I’m gone, because then this guy will put the bee on me for about ten francs for bringin’ him over.
1927		K. Nicholson Barker I i: So that’s why yer sore at the Colonel. You put th’ bee on him an’ he turned you down.
1929		A.J. Barr Let Tomorrow Come 40: I go in a dump an’ put the B on the boss.
1933		C. Himes ‘Prison Mass’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 156: If he couldn’t put the bee on Brightlights for the twenty-five bucks he was going to find out just how ex that pug really was.
1942		‘Marienne’ ‘Solid Meddlin’’ in People’s Voice (NY) 21 Mar. 33/1: [B]rother Shoebrush [...] the smooth stepper, is puttin’ the bee on Daisy to tell.
1947		W. Motley Knock on Any Door 322: ‘I gotta put the bee on you for the night. Christ! – I can’t sleep out in this!’ Nick said, ‘Sure thing, Kid!’ and pulled what money he had out of his pocket.
1953		S. Bellow Augie March (1996) 269: You don’t have to tell me why you don’t put the bee on your brother.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 4: B – to beg or mooch. ‘Moe put the B on me’.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 790: bee – To beg or borrow.
1971		T. Thackrey Thief 191: Let’s not crap around with each other. If I was going to put the bee on you, I’d have done it last night.

2. (US, also put the B on) to swindle, to hoax, to victimize.

1909		H. Green Mr. Jackson 129: ’Frisco kin put the bee on all of ’em [...] I wonder if them elbows are still at it.
1920		H.C. Witwer Kid Scanlon 304: ‘Somebody put the bee on us!’ howls Honest Dan, wringin’ his hands.
1935		D. Lamson We Who Are About to Die 206: If you try to put the bee on guys like that [i.e. con-men], the bee will turn round and bite you, an’ serve you right.
1940		J. Archibald ‘No PLace Like Homicide’ in Popular Detective Apr. 🌐 If you’re working your way through college, don’t try to put the bee on me.
1941		J.M. Cain Mildred Pierce (1985) 382: You put the bee on him and say that’s what he’s been up to all along.
1959		W. Burroughs Naked Lunch (1968) 161: Clip clap joint where fraudulent girls put the B on you.

3. (US) to denigrate, to criticise.

1912

H. Green Vaudevillians in Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 19 Dec. 9/5: I defy any of ’em to put the bee on my cookin’ .

4. to sue.

1941

E. Hoffman Price ‘Murder Salvage’ in Spicy Detective Apr. 🌐 She might put the bee on you for sending threats through the U. S. Mail.

5. of a woman, to pursue a man with the intention of marriage.

1944

P. Wylie Night Unto Night 335: Anyhow, she put the bee on me and I finally gave in.

6. to tax.

1940

J. Archibald ‘No Place Like Homicide’ in Popular Detective Apr. 🌐 The Gs were after a firm down on Pearl Street for evading the bee that Uncle Sam puts on citizens.

7. (US) to quash, to bring to an end, to ruin [initial letter of ‘bag’ in SE put the bag on, to halt, to interfere with, to bring to a standstill].

1908		K. McGaffey Sorrows of a Show Girl Ch. xiv: It is something fierce the way these reformers are trying to put the bee on our pleasures.
1925		Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves 159: The old boy most fortunately got the idea that I was off my rocker and put the bee on the proceedings.
1934		R. Chandler ‘Finger Man’ in Pearls Are a Nuisance (1964) 98: Hell! You’re the guy that put the bee on that hot rod.
1940		Pittsburgh Courier (PA) 27 Jan. 7/1: That certain fay writer [...] was the guy who put the old ‘bee’ on the long-delayed Negro book [...] from the Federal Writers Project.

(Aus./N.Z.) a tiny or insignificant amount.

1988		Sydney Morn. Herald 21 May n.p.: ‘If I was a second out it would have been easier to accept but I was only a bee’s dick out’.
1991		Age (Melbourne) 14 July n.p.: ‘We were a bee’s dick away from finishing their [i.e. Melbourne’s] season, but we didn’t have enough mongrel to put them away’ .
2003		in McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.
2022		in D. Andrew Aussie Sl.

(orig. US) small female breasts; also as adj.

1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1980		in B. Hornadge Aus. Slanguage.
1990		(con. c.1970) G. Hasford Phantom Blooper 45: Skinny gooks [...] and fireteams of teenaged whores who flashed bee-sting tits at us.
2004		Las Vegas for Visitors at govegas.about.com 🌐 This place [i.e. Cheetahs Topless Club] has every imaginable funbag, from bee stings to feeding bottles to structurally engineered whamdanglers.

(UK juv.) a police officer.

1959

I. & P. Opie Lore and Lang. of Schoolchildren (1977) 395: Nicknames current among boys [...] Brass Bonce, Busy Bee, Cop, Copper.