Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. the number five [rhy. sl.].

1969		S.T. Kendall Up the Frog.
1980		T. McClenaghan Submariners I ii: All the fives [...] Beehives.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 64/2: since ca. 1920.

2. (also beehive nest) a woman’s hair style, resembling a hive from excessive back-combing.

1959		Commercial Prints and Labels (Lib. Congress) 13-16 104/3: Qoody beehive foundation; now you can make the stylish beehive hairdo at home.
1965		T. Wolfe Kandy-kolored Tangerine-flake Streamline Baby 287: The turn causes his face to start to mash in the ciliated hull of her beehive hairdo.
1973		S. Ace Stand On It (1979) 151: The waitress [...] pulled a pencil out of her beehive hairdo.
1990		P.-D. Uys Part Hate Part Love (1994) 53: Not so funny if all you get is a downpour on your new beehive hairstyle.
2000		R. Antoni Grandmother’s Erotic Folktales 37: White kerchief tied up around she beehive-nest of hair.
2011		Observer New Review 31/4: This Italian girl with a beehive and an Ann-Margaret-style tight sweater.

3. a five-pound note [rhy. sl.].

1962

R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 29: I used to pull out a couple of ton in beehives.