Taking their cue from the First Canadians, who always worked for the common good; the early settlers took turns getting mail and supplies and if one of them became ill, everyone else pitched in to ensure that they did not lose their crops. This gave rise to the great Canadian passtime, known as the 'Bee'; which was a combination work and pleasure party, enjoyed by the early European immigrants and Loyalists; and even their descendants, well into the Victorian Era and beyond.
The Bee was never an impromptu event; but was planned well in advance; and no one attended without an invitation. On the other hand, not to be invited was a direct slight and could create a life-long enemy of the host or hostess, if they weren't one already. The invited guests would travel miles to attend, without expecting payment other than food and lodging; but the understanding was that you could expect the favour returned, when you needed assistance yourself.
All bees provided entertainment, and as such; in the Maritimes; were usually called "frolics" . Besides large quantities of food and drink, it was customary to provide a dance or "hoe-down " as the main amusement; while those who chose not to dance engaged in sports, games, and conversation.
In the early days, almost every activity was an occasion for a bee. In Susanna's Moddie's 1852 Roughing it in the Bush (1923 edition, page 305), she observes "people in the woods have a craze for giving and going to bees, and run to them with as much eagerness as a peasant runs to a race-course or a fair; plenty of strong drink and excitement making the chief attraction of the bee".
When new settlers arrived in a district the "bee" was a perfect opportunity to meet your new neighbours and those already established invariably assisted with the clearing of land and construction of their first home.
Bees were divided into two main categories: the more serious, and ones that generally lasted several days; were logging, stumping, house and barn raising; while lesser bees that generally took a day, were for things like apple paring, husking, quilting and butchering.
