The Busy Bee phonograph was the basis for a scheme to force customers to buy only Busy Bee cylinders. The cylinders were slightly larger in diameter than standard cylinders and could not be played on standard phonographs. The mandrill of the Busy Bee phonograph had a similarly larger diameter and could not play standard cylinders. The phonograph was given away or sold as part of a promotion and the unwitting customer was then locked in.

Busy Bee had a similar scheme for disc records.