Wiktionary
n. A sterile bee whose speciality is to support the hive, especially by collecting pollen
WordNet
n. sterile bee specialized to collect food and maintain the hive
Wikipedia
A worker bee is any female ( eusocial) bee that lacks the full reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee; under most circumstances, this is correlated to an increase in certain non-reproductive activities relative to a queen, as well. Worker bees occur in many bee species other than honey bees, but this is by far the most familiar colloquial use of the term.
Workers gather pollen into the pollen baskets on their back legs, to carry back to the hive where it is used as food for the developing brood. Pollen carried on their bodies may be carried to another flower where a small portion can rub off onto the pistil, resulting in cross pollination. Almost all of civilization's food supply ( maize is a noteworthy exception) depends greatly on crop pollination by honey bees, whether directly eaten or used as forage crops for animals that produce milk and meat. Nectar is sucked up through the proboscis, mixed with enzymes in the stomach, and carried back to the hive, where it is stored in wax cells and evaporated into honey.
Usage examples of "worker bee".
The sound of its whining motor was like the buzz of a worker bee, and he knew that the AI guiding it could not be any more intelligent than a worker bee.
I laughed at the thought of ever confiding in the angry Sansum who buzzed about war-shrunken Dumnonia like a worker bee.
I felt the loneliness, suddenly, of standing outside my institution, my universe, a worker bee expelled from the hive.
Sienna ignored Chance when he emerged from under an overturned table and sidled up to Xander, who remained as disinterested and aloof as a worker bee that had just found the nectar mother lode.
It's like your worker bee - stop him from working and he becomes morbid and unhappy.