queen bee

The ancients supposed that the queen-bee was indeed the queen and ruler of the hive.

For it is written that against a queen-bee only another queen may draw her sting.

Generally these were women, as at Ephesos in early days, where they obeyed a high-priestess, who called herself 'the queen-bee.'

And what duties, said my wife, does the queen-bee perform, that have any resemblance to those incumbent upon me?