The Birds and the Bees

Dear WB:

I have been searching the Web for a couple of days looking for the origin of the phrase "the birds and the bees" for a research paper. While I have found many references to word and phrase origins, I have not been able to learn anything about the origin of "the birds and the bees."

I was reading through your information and saw this Reader Feedback section. Can you help me out with either an origin for that phrase, or provide some references where I can get more specific information?

Ted Romas
USAFRet84@aol.com

Dear Ted:

Well, Ted, it's time you heard all about the birds and the bees. Unfortunately, my usual sources have come up mostly dry as well, although one suggested that "birds and bees" are used to explain sexual reproduction because you're explaining non-mammalian reproduction and floral pollination.

You don't have to sit the kids down and explain what those two dogs are doing on your front lawn, or why those people in the movie are so excited and seem to be having fun. Rather, you explain how a bee moves from flower to flower, taking pollen stuck to its furry body between them, allowing the flowers to produce seed. Not much fun in that. Birds? Well, isn't it comforting in our patriarchal society to explain how mom lays the egg, sits on it, and feeds the baby, while dad is out singing and showing off his more colourful plumage?

It's reproduction without reference to genitalia, sex, or fun. Besides that, any expression that uses an alliteration tends to hang around.

Alas, the expression's origins are overlooked, and surprisingly it doesn't appear in many dictionaries of idioms. Sounds Victorian, doesn't it?

For more information about the birds and the bees, talk to your parent or guardian.

James R. Watson, Origins Guy for Writer's Block, Ottawa.

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