What do "Things were buzzing" and "school swot. Swat, get it?" mean?

Question

This passage is from The Children's Bach by Helen Garner

Poppy went into her bedroom and put on the uniform. She did this at least once a day, to practise getting used to it, and because she could not quite believe, from one day to the next, in its extreme ugliness. Worst were the shoes, great black lace-up clod-hoppers with square toes. Would they ever get soft? She stood in front of the mirror in the hall and stared at her brown, stick-like legs and long feet. Elizabeth came in behind her. Her eyes too were drawn to these boat-like extremities. They reminded her of the ankleboots worn by Ant and Bee in a book her mother had read to her. She thought of her mother and the sight of Poppy’s anxiety made her voice tremble.

‘Head prefect of Mosquito Girls’ High,’ she said.

Poppy turned round with a crooked smile. She took the bait. ‘I know what!’ she said. ‘Let’s write a story. Let’s start like this: “Things were buzzing at Mosquito Girls’ High”.’

‘The headmistress’s name is Miss Queenie Bee,’ said Elizabeth.

‘And she says to all the girls at assembly, ‘‘If there’s one thing that really bugs me . . .”’

‘And no-one wants to be the school swot. Swat, get it?’

They pranced and frolicked in the hall. Elizabeth got bored with it long before Poppy did. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s get this show on the road. Did Shithead leave you any money for the stuff?’

1. Does she misspell "swat" as"swot" and "swat" here means that "nobody want to be beaten"?

2. Does "Things were buzzing" mean: "mosquitos were buzzing"

Answer 1

They're inventing a joke story based on puns.

Elizabeth says "Mosquito Girls' High" and then the two girls proceed to make a number of jokes and puns based around insects, starting from the "Mosquito" in the name of the school. The reason why they suddenly break into such jokes is presumably in an attempt to relax their anxiety about the school, and the reason for insect-based puns is apparently that Poppy's uniform makes her look like an insect, reminding Elizabeth of (presumably) a cartoon ant and bee in a children's book.

• "Things were buzzing" - this phrase could be applied to a school which is busy and full of energy, but the same word can also refer to the noise of insects.

• "Miss Queenie Bee" - this could be a real person's name, but it also refers to a particular type of insect.

• "If there’s one thing that really bugs me" - this is again a plausible thing to say, with the verb "bug" meaning annoy or worry, but the same word can also refer to insects.

• "the school swot" - this pun is based on a homophone between swot, someone who studies very hard, and swat, an object used for hitting insects.